Altech takes on Gigazone

Gigabyte subsidiary, Gigazone, has brought Altech on-board to distribute its power supplies, chassis and coolers.

Gigabyte regional manager, Yuliya Lahvinovich, said it had initially offered the Gigazone products through multiple distributors before appointing Altech as its sole Australian partner.

"Gigazone entered the Australian market with its thermal chassis, coolers and power supplies a year ago. After a trial year we had a clearer view of the market and decided to focus on a single nationwide distributor," Lahvinovich said.

Altech's marketing abilities were key in choosing it as distributor, she said.

"We feel confident in Altech's knowledge of the market, broad channel distribution network and leading position," Lahvinovich said.

Altech marketing manager, Kevin Hartin, said tier-one vendors such as Gigabyte were a strong source of success for the distributor.

"We see the Gigazone appointment as enhancing our portfolio. The Gigabyte portfolio has a different positioning to our other vendors around these types of products, being at the volume end of the market," he said.

Hartin said Altech would leverage its broad reseller base among small independents as its go-to-market strategy.

"The availability of the product range is key - we've got 14 containers of product coming in the first instance so we'll be able to provide lots of products at competitive pricing," he said.

Hartin recently returned to Altech as marketing manager after a stint in charge of Nvidia's local channel. He replaced Biljana Vojdanoska, who has left the distributor to pursue other opportunities.

"I spent the first part of this year setting up Altech's New Zealand operation, and when I returned to Sydney this position had opened up," Hartin said. "I've been catching up with what the company is up to, as it has grown quite rapidly in the year I was away, and I'm also looking at opportunities for us for the next 12 months."