Samsung promises more channel focus

Korean giant seeks to harvest larger B2B opportunity

Samsung wants to grow B2B sales of its displays, digital signage, printers, notebooks and other offerings by 40 per cent this year, doubling its performance in the channel.

Graham Long, vice president of IT at Samsung UK, said an increased focus on channel partners is on the cards for the vendor, which has been known mainly for its success with consumers for years.

"While we intend to grow in both the retail and business channels, we know that we must balance the demands placed on our partners to achieve our ambitious growth objectives," said Long.

"We see our total addressable market in retail and B2B at around £2.5bn per annum. And we know that approximately 50 per cent of this opportunity comes from a market in which we have traditionally been under-indexed."

According to the vendor, it has already doubled its B2B channel footprint over the last three years, with 35 per cent of its products now sold to the channel, up from 15 per cent in 2008.

It also restructured its business units into one IT division, offering channel partners consistency, predictability and transparency across computing, print and display portfolios, and forged strategic partnerships with the likes of VMware and Microsoft.

A new business notebook range has also been unveiled, which will launch to the channel this year.