At a gala event at Langhams Lifestyle Estate in Johannesburg last night, Lenovo formally recognised its top business partners who have helped it achieve some of the most successful growth rates in the vendor’s EMEA region.
Graham Braum, GM of Lenovo Africa (and recently promoted to head up its mobile business in EMEA), paid tribute to the distributors and resellers in South Africa and the SADC territories that have been instrumental in seeing the company’s market share grow from 13,9% two years ago to 25,2% this fiscal year. And he’s confident that Lenovo’s partners will help it attain its goal of 30% of the market in the coming year.
“What we have achieved over the past two years is remarkable,” Braum told partners. “It is a great result – and it is all due to you. Our model relies on you, our business partners, 100%. We are a 100% channel company and we will invest more in you as we become, together, even more important in the next fiscal year.
“Yes, the market today is tough, but we have some exciting products coming down the line – and the data centre group is ready to fire,” Braum says. “It has some very ambitious goals this year – 2,5% quarter on quarter growth, with the ultimate aim of 25% market share. It’s not as easy a market as PCs, but we will invest in additional resources and orchestrate to make sure that we become a significant force in the private and public sector.”
On the night, Pinnacle took home four awards including the coveted Distributor of the Year and a Special Recognition award for Suria Pretorius as Brand Ambassador of the Year. In the SADC region, Mauritius-based Channel IT scooped two awards: Service Excellence in SADC Region and Best Commercial PC Business Partner in SADC. Makro was named as South African Retailer of the Year.
All the winners in the various categories were as follows:
Services Category
Authorised Warranty Provider of the Year – SA: TCM
Service Excellence – SADC: Channel IT (Mauritius)
Channel Category
Newcomer of the Year: 3DR
Premier Product Distributor of the Year: Pinnacle
Coastal Business Partner of the Year: Datacentrix
SADC Region Category
Commercial PC Business Partner of the Year: Channel IT (Mauritius)
Mobility Business Partner of the Year: Mishcon (Botswana)
In-Country Distributor of the Year: Elitus
Retailer of the Year: Furn Mart
Consumer Category
Premier Desktop Retailer of the Year: Makro
Premier Notebook Retailer of the Year: Incredible Connection
Retail Growth of the Year: CNA
Tablet Retail Partner of the Year: Incredible Connection
Enterprise Category
Enterprise Corporate Acquisition Partner of the Year: Digistore
Data Centre Group Distributor of the Year: First Distribution
Business Partner of the Year in Data Centre: TCM
Relationship Distributor of the Year: Tarsus Technologies
PCG and DCG Category
ThinkServer Distributor of the Year: Mustek
PC Group Business Partner of the Year: Rectron
Authorised Business Partner of the Year: Stortech
Premier Business Partner of the Year: Aptronics
Special Recognition Category
Brand Ambassador of the Year: Suria Pretorius (Pinnacle)
Relationship Business Partner of the Year: Nicky McGraw (Tarsus)
The Extra Mile Award: Mubeen Suleman (PartServe)
Best Revenue Growth Category
Biggest Revenue Growth Partner: Digistore
Best Revenue Distributor Southern Africa: Mustek
Transactional Distributor of the Year: Pinnacle
Overall Category
Distributor of the Year – SADC: Axiz
Retailer of the Year – South Africa: Makro
Gold Business Partner of the Year: First Technology
Distributor of the Year: Pinnacle
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