The first in Russia authorization of Dell business partners was held on April 7. 41 MERLION partners from Russia and CIS countries became authorized Dell dealers.
On April 7, 2004 Dell held the first in Russia business partners authorization. The status of Dell Authorized Business Partner was assigned to 41 companies from Russia and CIS - partners of Russia's larges distributor of PC equipment and components, MERLION.
)
Under the authorization program Dell and MERLION summarized the results of last year cooperation and outlined the prospects of future development. The event was attended by Alexander Chub, Dell Russia General Manager, Nikolay Artemenko, MERLION CEO, Vadim Yarotsky, MERLION Marketing Director.
)
Dell Russia General Manager Alexander Chub highly appreciated the results of the first year of cooperation with the largest distributor on the Russian market - MERLION. In particular, he said: "The first year of our cooperation showed we are going in the right direction. According to IDC Group, the growth of Dell products last year outperformed the total growth of the Russian PC market by 109% - the latter averaged to about 20%. In the server segment Dell growth outperformed the market by 15%, desktops - by 70% and notebooks - by 280%. We attribute this success to the carefully selected development strategy on the Russian market, which includes our cooperation with MERLION".
Speaking of the strategy of further promotion of Dell products in Russia, Mr. Chub noted that the company will continue to rely on the cooperation with partners, showing high growth rates matching Dell's leading position on the global market. Dell, on its part, will ensure such partners are economically motivated.
)
MERLION CEO Nikolay Artemenko said that project-based distribution in general and distribution of Dell products in particular are one of the top priorities of MERLION business development strategy. "Dell is one of uncontestable leaders of the global market, capable to take the position in Russia, matching its global position. That is why we will continue to focus on promoting their products", - emphasized Mr. Artemenko.
)
MERLION Marketing Director Vadim Yarotsky said that over the last year Dell Corporation moved up from 16th to the 3rd place in MERLION's rating of suppliers. Dell products' sales volume continues to grow, and in Q1 2004 accounts for about 3% of the company's total sales.
The structure of sales of Dell products underwent significant changes. While the top product category in November was monitors (54 %), at present over two thirds of Dell sales come from notebooks (69 %).
)
Last year MERLION launched a number of marketing initiatives, including two marketing programs related to Dell products form Moscow-based and regional partners: "Switch to Dell!" and "Dell Business Partner". The latter gathered over 500 MERLION partners. The program resulted in 41 partners being assigned the "Dell Authorized Business Partners" status: 21 Moscow-based companies, 18 regional companies and 2 companies from CIS countries (Byelorussia and Georgia). The geography of new Dell partners is as follows: Moscow - 48 %, Central region - 10 %, Volga region - 15 %, Urals and Southern region - 10 % each and North-West - 7%.
Most popular Dell models in 2003 were TFT Monitor E 1702FP Black 17, Pocket PC Axim x5 400 MHz, and notebooks Dell Inspiron 1100 GT. The company expects that 2004 leaders of Dell product range will be Inspiron 1100 GT and 5100 GT notebooks, Power Edge 1600SC servers and OptiPlex GX 270 desktop PC. The pro-active promotion program for Dell products in Russia now includes a full-scale advertising campaign on TV and in leading business and IT mass media.
Mr. Yarotsky evaluated the prospects of future cooperation by stating that the share of Dell in MERLION sales will continue to grow, reaching at least 70% growth rate despite the expected seasonal drop in sales in Q2.
