Comms Dealer

Although PC renewals slowed in the commercial space, PC shipments were supported by increasing consumer demand during the back-to-school season and preparations for the Christmas sales. Consequently, PC shipments posted 23.6% growth in Western Europe in Q3, says IDC.

In the PC ranking, HP remained leader in Western Europe, followed by Lenovo and Acer, with the latter two vendors benefiting from very strong growth in consumer PC shipments. Sony and Samsung no longer rank in the top 10, following their exit from the Western European PC market. The trends seen during the previous quarter were confirmed in the third quarter of 2014: shipments of PCs continued to post an increase, with demand shifting towards desktops and portable PCs after few years of delayed renewals and with low-end consumer portable PCs driving the growth in shipments. On the other hand, tablets continued to contract as end users have not seen sufficient need to replace their devices.

The smart connected device (SCD) market posted another quarter of growth in Western Europe, driven mainly by increased demand for personal computers. According to figures published by International Data Corporation (IDC), PC, tablet, and smartphone shipments totalled 60.1 million units, with volume 8.6% higher compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Tablets declined but 2-in-1s picked up and posted 46.4% growth.

Smartphones posted 6.1% growth, driven by the increased availability of affordable smartphones and the proliferation of 4G networks.

"PC shipments in Western Europe posted another strong quarter," said Maciek Gornicki, senior research analyst, IDC EMEA Personal Computing. "After a few years of delayed renewals, consumers started to refresh their PCs again, encouraged by lower price points and attractive products offered by vendors. Shipments were also boosted by sell-in of low-end notebooks with Windows 8.1 Bing version, which are expected to drive volume during the Christmas season. On the other hand, demand started to wane in the commercial market after several quarters of strong renewals induced by the end of Windows XP support."

Jorge Ferreira, research analyst, IDC EMEA Personal Computing, added: "The tablet market reached a plateau which reflects some maturity for this technology, only four years after the popular introduction of the iPad.

"This quarter experienced a small contraction as a result of the ongoing dynamic shift among different mobile devices. Small tablets suffered from growth in phablets, whereas the overall tablet market was impacted by the price aggressiveness of a huge number of portables with MS Windows 8.1 with Bing.

"Despite disappointing growth rates in 2014, IDC expects the market to continue thriving from 2015, benefiting from continuous price erosion and innovation, as a consequence of the fierce competitive environment. In addition, the commercial segment is predicted to support market improvement, chiefly driven by the increasing adoption of 2-in-1s, which has been fostered by a wider product offering from traditional PC manufacturers and a further drop in price points."

The smartphone market is fiercely competitive as mobile phone vendors have intense interest in this space. New vendors have successfully entered the market, mainly targeting the low-end segment where growth levels are higher. The average selling price (ASP) of smartphones fell 5.5% to $433 and a downwards trajectory is expected, dropping to $317 by 2018. "Startup players are launching devices with attractive specs at very competitive prices, and users are becoming more open to new brands when they understand their value proposition," said Susana Santos, Research Analyst, IDC WE Mobile Devices.

Overall vendor ranking remained unchanged for this quarter. Samsung and Apple maintained their leadership in the overall device market, supported by large smartphone volumes and especially new product launches for Apple. Sony in the middle of this ranking suffered from the disengagement from the PC market in Europe.

The traditional PC vendors benefited from the rebound in PC, while Lenovo made some strong progress in tablets:

Samsung continued its leadership in the smartphone space in Western Europe, both by volume and value, despite a volume decline of 16.7%. Apple kept second position with a share increase from last year to 17.1%, benefitting from the long-awaited larger-screen devices launched in September. Wiko jumped to 6th position in the top smartphone vendors' ranking, reaching 3.2% market share.

During 3Q14, Apple kept the leadership in the region for tablets, despite a volume decline of 15.9% year-on-year, chiefly affected by increased tablet life cycles and the expectation of a new product launch. Samsung consolidated its position and held second place, although shipments contracted by 2.7% from the same period last year.

Demand for Wi-Fi connectivity continues to rise with access point shipments up 14% year-over-year in 3Q14 according to market research firm Infonetics Research.

Data from its third quarter 2014 Wireless LAN Equipment and Wi-Fi Phones report (which tracks enterprise access points, wireless LAN controllers and Wi-Fi phones) show the global wireless LAN equipment market improved in 3Q14, growing 5% sequentially to $1.3bn.

"After a weak first half of the year wireless LAN sales improved in 3Q14 thanks to higher demand from government and enterprise customers.

"Revenue growth is once again accelerating-and even outpacing-access point shipments, a sign that vendors were able to sustain pricing and shift the product mix to higher-priced equipment such as 802.11ac access points, which now account for almost a quarter of all shipments," said Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research.

Interactive access points are the top-performing WLAN segment in 3Q14 - 802.11ac access point penetration is up almost 10-fold over the past year, with almost 1 million units shipped in 3Q14.

Aruba and Ruckus notched the highest growth of all WLAN equipment vendors in Q3 while Wi-Fi phone shipments are reversing course from a great 2013 due to weakness in the healthcare vertical and continuing weak demand for enterprise phone systems. 

Maintel's new Group Sales Director Stuart Legg (pictured) is tasked with transforming the firm's sales operations following recent acquisitions.

Legg was previously responsible for sales and marketing at Proximity Communications which was acquired by Maintel in October 2014.

"Bringing Proximity into the fold marked a significant change in our market position," said Eddie Buxton, CEO of Maintel.

"Stuart's role, with the support of his team, is to ignite this compelling proposition with sales success as we target ambitious growth for 2015 and beyond."

Legg added: "Maintel has a great opportunity to take advantage of its expertise and services capabilities. Our strong partnerships and the increasing market demand for our offering in the enterprise sector stand us in good stead for pushing revenues into the £50-60m bracket by the end of this year."

Staff optimism is a competitive advantage and there's no better way to stoke up inter-company positivity than by winning a Comms Dealer Sales Award.

With the 2015 Awards extravaganza declared open for entries the message to the channel is clear, don't miss out on the chance to give your sales and marketing staff the recognition they deserve.

The Comms Dealer Sales Awards are the industry's most highly regarded awards for revenue generating staff and this must-enter event is planned for May 5th at the magnificent Cafe de Paris, London, where the creme de la creme of the ICT industry's sales stars will gather to applaud and reward people who have excelled in their profession during the past year.

Nothing boosts your company's optimism for the future more than being a Comms Dealer Sales Award winner. Motivation in the workplace stems from the fact that upbeat, engaged and optimistic workers are more productive, helping employers to grow and make more money.

According to Philip Donigan, Sales Director at award winner STL, optimistic sales and marketing staff are vital to winning in the marketplace and with a Comms Dealer Sales Award in the trophy cabinet employee engagement and improvements to the bottom line are almost inevitable, driving a positive and optimistic culture.

He enthused: "Winning Reseller Sales Team of the Year and Reseller Best Marketing Campaign in the 2014 Comms Dealer Sales Awards gave us meaningful recognition from the industry of our continuing success, and provided our sales team with a real boost, as well as giving them equally important recognition for their efforts.

"Being part of an award winning organisation means a lot to every single member of our staff and really motivates them to continue to push the business forward. There was such a positive buzz around the office when we won and the trophies are proudly displayed with our other awards as a constant reminder and a motivator for the team and visitors to see."

Pete Tomlinson, Director of Sales, Marketing and Product at headline sponsor Eclipse, added: "The ability of our sales and marketing teams to create value in our own businesses and to change the lives of our customers is unparalleled, yet all too often this goes unrecognised. These awards ensure that this is no longer the case and recognise the skills and commitment of the most talented people in what is now a true profession. I am delighted to be part of celebrating this success with Eclipse as headline sponsors."

The Comms Dealer Sales Awards are judged not on votes but by an independent judging panel. That's why they are so highly prized. "The channel is home to many of the UK's stand-out sales and marketing professionals across the vendor, distribution and reseller communities who drive the growth of their businesses and make this such a fantastic sector to be a part of," said Comms Dealer Editorial Director Nigel Sergent.

"The comms and ICT channel is regularly applauded in the press for being one of the sectors that has led the UK out of the last recession - we at Comms Dealer agree wholeheartedly and these awards are designed to provide much deserved recognition of those at the coal face fuelling this growth. If you're a vendor, distributor or a reseller, enter your sales and marketing teams into the 2015 Comms Dealer Sales Awards and let's recognise our industry's top talent!"

The 2014 sales awards event staged at the Park Lane Hotel, London on May 8th, was hosted by respected BBC sports presenter John Inverdale. Stand-out winners were STL and Focus Group which both secured a brace of awards, with Focus bagging the coveted Comms Dealer Overall Sales Team of the Year Award. Sergent added: "The quality and quantity of Sales Awards submissions demonstrated how channel sales and marketing people continue to drive growth and deliver commercial benefits to their companies. All of our finalists were congratulated on their achievements and deserve wide recognition for their hard work."

For more information on this year's Sales Awards please visit www.cdsalesawards.com

Leeds-based Diva Telecom has welcomed Hannah O'sullivan to the role of Marketing Manager.

Her appointment follows a period of significant growth in SMS texting as a business tool and her remit is to drive online sales of SMS texting, audio conferencing and international inbound numbers.

In previous roles O'sullivan has led the marketing operations at Bradford lift agents, Short Lifts, and Huddersfield financial compliance service provider, SimplyBiz.

She said: "I'm excited to apply my skills and experience to the telecoms industry and even more so to be working with such a dynamic company as Diva."

O'sullivan's appointment reflects Diva's strategic outreach in other areas including appearances at a number of trade shows such as Buy Yorkshire at the Leeds Royal Armouries in April next year.

Mobile device management is critical to every organisation, but purchasing multiple services on a one-off basis can create a complex, disparate solution that is difficult to manage and isn't future proofed, according to David Langhorn, Head of Corporate and Large Enterprise at Vodafone UK.

Aiming to solve the problem Vodafone UK has rolled out a new service for large private businesses and the public sector, called Total Managed Mobility (TMM).

The solution enables companies to choose a combination of MDM solutions to create one device management portfolio that is easy to manage, said the firm.

"Businesses are looking for a secure, simple way to manage all the mobile devices across all operating systems that their employees use for work, without having to purchase a new application every time a new device comes onto the market," said Langhorn.

"That's why we've launched the new TMM service, giving IT managers the peace of mind that they've got device management and security covered."

Computacenter's UK MD of 20 years Neil Muller (pictured left) is heading to Daisy as CEO in a move that sees Matt Riley become Executive Chairman. Riley founded Daisy in 2001 and has grown the company's turnover to £350m. Muller runs Computacenter's UK business in the enterprise market and takes up his new position in February 2015 when he will focus on the mid-market in particular.

Riley said the appointment is 'vital' for developing Daisy's growth in the ICT space, especially its managed services portfolio.

Riley commented: "We are now perfectly positioned to become the major force in the SME and mid-market IT and business communications industry.

"With someone as experienced and ambitious as Neil at the helm, I have every confidence that the company will progress to an exciting new level of growth, and I look forward to working closely with him."

Muller added: "The converging world of telecommunications and IT represents a host of exciting opportunities and Daisy is in a prime position to evolve and to adapt its existing capabilities, addressing new market dynamics and mid-market customer needs."

Muller will be based at Daisy's Reading office which houses more than 100 staff and is the main centre for its managed services operations.

Daisy has 16 sites and employs more than 1,500 people across the UK, and provides services to more than 65,000 business customers.

The changing face of the European software industry is fully reflected in the content of the European Software & Solutions Summit 2015, according to organiser IT Europa.

The nature of the software industry has changed considerably over the last couple of years as the growth of Software-as-a-Service, the impact of mobile working, cloud-based apps supplied through service providers, new rapid development models and the constant need for security has broadened and changed its focus, believes John Garratt, content director of the event.

"We found, particularly towards the end of this year, that software companies were not thinking of themselves in terms of names like ISV or developer," he said. "They were getting closer to their customers and thinking more in terms of their own expertise in a particular industry, vertical market or technology.

As the cloud increasingly dominates delivery and new channels emerge, the need to produce effective business solutions rapidly and to securely link business data to mobile devices opens up the market to those who can move quickly and effectively in partnership with leading players.

Under the overall theme of 'Beyond the Cloud - Creating competitive advantage by driving Digitalised Business', the European Software & Solutions Summit 2015, which incorporates the European ISV Convention, will explore the new business concepts, models and structures enabled by this new digitalised world and the role the software company, ISV, Solution Provider and application developer play in their development.

The digitalisation of enterprises of all sizes has offered organisations and businesses the chance to use their knowledge and information to create new business processes, profit streams and reach new customers and markets.

Now in its eighth year, The European Software & Solutions Summit 2015 builds on previous Conventions and will feature presentations from leading industry speakers and analysts to examine emerging trends in software and solution development.

The conference sessions:
Open Session 1
Digital Business - a connected world of opportunities:
This session will explore what is meant by the digitalisation of business and how the connected worlds it creates through interfaces and the Internet of Things, is changing the nature of business applications and solutions and examine the implications of this for application developers and solution providers.

Open Session 2
IT Investment - the rules of the game are changing:
This session will explore what digital business means to organisations and how software companies, ISVs, solution providers and application developers will have to rethink how they engage with their customers and partner with other organisations to define and create 'game-changing' solutions.

Open Session 3
Everything as a service (XaaS) - delivering innovation:
These new requirements are fuelling the growing demand for an 'Everything as a Service' IT and business model. This session will explore how this takes us beyond just selling cloud, PaaS and IaaS solutions to a more comprehensive customer experience model.

Open Session 4
Stepping into the digital world of the 21st century:
The final session will explore how software and solution providers can best embrace the concept of digitalised business to maximise business opportunities. New skills and partnerships will be needed and new 'go to market' strategies developed.

The European Software & Solutions Summit 2015 will take place at the Lancaster London Hotel, London, on 25 March 2015. ISVs, solution providers and developers wishing to attend the convention and vendors, distributors or service providers interested in sponsorship opportunities can find further information at www.eusss.com or www.isvconvention.com

Yealink IP handsets have been rated interoperable with MyPhones.com's Altos hosted telephony platform.

All models in the Yealink T4 series of IP handsets are now compatible with Altos and can be supplied provisioned by MyPhones.com's distribution partner ProVu Communications.

Dr Stuart Marsden, MD of MyPhones.com, said: "ProVu Communications' fulfilment and zero-touch provisioning service means that the handsets can be shipped direct to site, provisioned and ready to operate with Altos."

Comms providers seeking to maximise on the growing Ethernet market, fuelled by increasing demand for enterprise connectivity and the boom in data traffic, should look to the East according to analyst Frost & Sullivan.

While the UK, Germany and France constitute the three largest markets, the less mature Eastern European economies will exhibit the fastest growth rates for Ethernet services. Uptake is expected to rise further as the adoption of cloud services escalates in the region.

F&S analysis has revealed that the wholesale Ethernet services market earned $2.73 billion in 2013 and could reach $5.16 billion by 2018. Meanwhile, retail market revenues stood at $3.10 billion in 2013 and are projected to hit $5.63 billion in 2018.

"Ethernet service deployments are on the rise as reliability and flexibility benefits make the technology ideal to power private cloud networks," commented Frost & Sullivan Information & Communication Technologies Research Analyst Shuba Ramkumar.

In a note of caution Tamkumar added: "With fierce competition making customer acquisition and retention difficult, it is important for providers to improve their economies of scale in order to increase profits and push ahead of competitors. Focusing on switched Ethernet services, acquiring regional competition, and offering converged services will help vendors consolidate their position."