Netgear outlines regional expansion strategy for 2008

The company has charted an aggressive action plan in a bid to leverage the growing demand for IT and networking products in the regional small and medium businesses (SMB) sector, which is reflective of the projected growth of the global market to $10bn by 2009.

The impressive market growth has prompted the company to hold various seminars and summits across the region and also strengthen its unique partner program, which has played a significant role in its excellent sales performance in 2007 and has aided in building relationships with high profile value-added resellers and partners.

Owing to high liquidity and soaring net incomes, SMBs have grown to comprise 70 to 80% of all the companies within the region at present, according to a report by Madar Research Group.

Consequently, Netgear's presence in highly progressive Middle Eastern countries has witnessed the sector's widespread development as an important contributor to the regional IT spending. By offering its value added resellers (VARs) a unique partner program that offers rebates, discounts, prices and intensified training initiatives, Netgear has built a strong channel base, which has prompted it to expand its operations in the Middle East in efforts to bring its products and services closer to regional customers.

"As the business landscape in the Middle East continues to nurture the emergence and growth of small and medium enterprises, we have shifted the focus of our overall strategy to target the increasing demands of this highly dynamic sector," said Ahmad Zeidan, Channel Sales Manager, Netgear Middle East.

"Our goal is to fully entrench our presence in significant markets in the Middle East, where the SMB sector has grown to play an important role in the advancement of its regional economy. With our proven track record in addressing the specific needs of this important market through our extensive network of value added reseller and partners, we are sure that our expansion will bring our solutions closer to our customers."

The Middle East is experiencing a continuing economic growth due to the boom in its real estate industry, construction, as well as the high revenues generated from trade of oil and other important products. As a result, a significant number of companies have identified the need to acquire new technologies and hardware within their IT infrastructure to fully leverage the tremendous opportunities present in the region. This has opened up a wide range of prospects for Netgear as the demand for a more robust IT products and broadband integration has increasingly grown and is expected to further expand in the coming years. The company is also keen on developing alliances with other value-added resellers, as they will enjoy the benefits of the Netgear 'Channel Partner Program', which will ensure that customers operating in small and medium businesses can conveniently access Netgear products.

"With regional IT spending being projected to continuously flourish to reach $46bn in 2010, we are gearing our operations towards taking advantage of the tremendous expansion opportunities within Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi and Egypt. With the increased demand for computer equipment, software products and data communication products such as switches, routers, storage solutions, VPN and wireless technology within these markets, we are confident that our expansion plans in these countries will be warmly accepted by SMBs as well as other important economy-building sectors in the local societies," concluded Zeidan.