In an exclusive interview with VAR Magazine, Jerome Belan, CEO of PNY Technologies EMEA and Talus Arukalil, Regional Manager, PNY Technologies ME explains the company’s focus

Elaborate what the acquisition of Imation means in the longer term for PNY in terms of go to market product portfolios?

Jerome Belan: Yes, PNY did take over Imation business in Middle East. Thanks to this, PNY has now an office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates with a complete team of skilled and experienced people. We see it as a great opportunity to expand our footprint in Middle East, Africa and Levant regions headed by Talus Arukalil. We are now in the position to offer a full assortment of products through three known and trusted brands: Imation, HP (USB) and of course PNY (both B2B and B2C product Categories).

Talus Arukalil: PNY Middle East office will be focusing to build all of our product category which includes PNY portfolio of storage and mobility accessories, Optical and storage category of Imation, HP branded flash drives, professional and consumer graphics cards from NVIDIA.

Solid state drives segment- do you see the storage upgrade opportunity as a significantly growing one – does that apply to this region as well?
Jerome Belan: Yes we do see good opportunity for SSD, it is a growing category and we plan to have an extended line of products to launch in PNY and Imation brand to cater market demands. SSD prices are getting more in line with consumer expectations which is getting more of demand.

Discuss product lines of focus for the region across consumer and commercial segments?
Talus Arukalil: By choosing the PNY products, our customers choose a universally recognized supplier whose priority is to bring a proximity service and to accompany them in the development of their activity. PNY positioning in the market is very specific: with a broad assortments of products ranges, PNY is the one-stop-shop for several key Solutions insuring the best quality with products 100% in house tested. One of the priorities of the company has always been to provide didactics packaging and innovative merchandising solutions to its channel. PNY has forged strong partnerships for certain products in order to strengthen brand image and offer the best technical solutions on the market. These include brands such as IMATION, NVIDIA, LEGO, and HP. PNY has also developed exclusive products such as StorEDGE Flash Memory Expansion Module, which was designed exclusively for use in MacBook computers. All PNY lightning cable range is MFI certified.

Please comment on upgrade segment/opportunity among graphics cards
Talus Arukalil: New software, launch of new games, increase gaming community, 4k HD & amazing technological advancements in panel category drives the demand to have advance graphic cards to enjoy full high quality video / games. With PNY’s advanced technology and exceptional performance of XLR8 GeForce graphics card which delivers state-of-the-art features and technologies to redefine smooth, seamless, lifelike gaming.

Price erosion in several product categories including storage has been significant over the past few years – how has PNY countered such scenario
Jerome Belan: This had been the case for couple years, PNY being a flash manufacturer, we are able to stay in line with market through right planning.

Discuss the commercial segment opportunity you see for PNY with its various products including the Quadro graphic cards?
Jerome Belan: We see high end demand graphic cards from key industry in the region like Media, Design, Oil, Construction, Medical, etc which are on growth path. We believe that Quadro technology will have good requirements to deliver high performance graphics in the respective above segments. The new advertising video walls is also an interesting area we are targeting.

Mobile accessories is a vast growth market- do you focus on an extensive range of products in this segment and from entry to high end models?
Jerome Belan: PNY pushes all the accessories mobile end users need to get the most out of their smartphone or tablet. We have vast line up from entry to high end models of Flash Memory Cards to expand their storage, wide line up portable PowerPacks as well as Cables and Adapters designed for Apple or Android users to keep them fully powered and connected while on the move.