US Robotics, international manufacturer of Internet connectivity solutions for small to medium businesses and home users, announced that its Middle East operations achieved is “best performing operations” within the US Robotics EMEA group for the first half of year 2003.
Yusuf Syed, regional sales manager for US Robotics, said: “We have exceeded our original business plan expectations and blew away the revised target we set given the environment in the Middle East. Of particular interest is the second quarter of 2003 where we grew by 54 percent, this being also a 75 percent growth over the same period last year.”
Syed explains that while Internet connectivity products supporting dial-up Internet services are still leading the market, broadband and wireless connectivity products are showing growing demand in the region.
US Robotics product line supporting broadband access however showed a noticeable increase in the first quarter of this year compared to last year. Syed says: “Sales of US Robotics DSL product lines constituted 15 percent of the company achievement in the home and SMB segments in the EMEA region.”
“Although this is a very good result for us in this market, we anticipate that further growth of this segment will highly depend on further drops in broadband connectivity prices coupled with content-rich applications that drive the demand for high speed Internet access.”
Earlier this year, US Robotics introduced to the market its SureConnect ADSL modem, which allows users to connect with a broadband Internet access and get always-on connectivity and unbelievably fast download speeds.
Syed further explains that US Robotics’ range of wireless products launched earlier this year constitute approximately 13 percent of the company’s sales for the first half of this year. This, according to Syed, is fuelled by a growing need for flexibility and cost reduction while maintaining the same level of high speed Internet access for small to medium office users in the region.
“In the Middle East only, the growth of our wireless product line more than doubled in the second quarter of this year.” Syed expects US Robotics wireless product line to increase in sales in the region, this being fuelled by a growing number of businesses adopting hotspots and wireless Internet access as a strategy for attracting customers.
The analogue modems product line continues to show highest performance in the region, constituting over 90 percent of US Robotics sales to the home users segment. Syed explains: ”Our dial-up product line continues to show strong sales growth thanks to the strong brand awareness and loyalty among home and SMB users.”
Syed ends: “Despite a slow take up in the first quarter of this year for the industry in general, we have managed to achieve great results for the first half of 2003, thanks to our distribution partners and loyal customers. For the second half of this year, we plan to introduce a range of broadband and wireless Internet connectivity products.”
US Robotics is privately held and headquartered in the Chicago area. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
