Apple Inc (AAPL)

[roni]

Distribution Pacts Beef Up Apple’s Channel Play

By Joseph F. Kovar and Scott Campbell, CRN
3:00 PM EST Fri. Nov. 18, 2005
From the November 21, 2005 CRN

Apple is making sure solution pro-viders know it sells more than iPods.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based vendor has stepped up efforts to reach the channel by adding one distributor and developing new initiatives with another.

Apple has named Bell Microproducts as its third distributor in the United States. The San Jose, Calif.-based company will distribute Apple’s Xserve rack-mount servers and Xserve RAID rack-mount storage arrays.

Meanwhile, Clearwater, Fla.-based Tech Data has launched a new program to support its Apple solution providers. AppleAdvantage features a dedicated inside and field sales support, vendor product representatives, product management resources, extended-term financing and a larger product catalog for accessories.

Apple has garnered a lot of praise and revenue from its iPod family over the past year, but John Brandon, vice president of the Americas and Asia Pacific at Apple, said the company’s business products sales are nearly as strong.

“The iPod is wonderful, it’s had a huge impact, but most interesting for [solution providers] is our Mac business grew 48 percent year over year,” Brandon told solution providers at Tech Data’s TechSelect partner conference earlier this month. “A PC business grew 48 percent year over year in the current environment, while the entire [PC market] might grow 15 percent, and you’ve watched the last two quarters of Dell. That means our Mac business is growing three times faster than the industry. That’s a real opportunity.”

In fiscal 2005, Apple’s revenue increased 68 percent to $13.9 billion, Brandon said, adding that no company has ever added $5.7 billion in revenue from a base as small as $8.2 billion. “Everything we accomplish in our fiscal year 2005 will act as a springboard for similar success [in 2006]. It will be another ‘greatest year in history of the company,’ ” he said.

Lots more here

http://www.crn.com/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=FVUK0EIZ1VGG0QSNDBNSKHSCJUMEKJVN?articleID=174300762