Fujitsu Signs Synnex As First U.S. Laptop Distributor

With its eye toward driving tablet-PC and notebook sales in vertical markets and SMBs, Fujitsu Computer Systems inked a brand-new deal with Fremont, Calif.-based distributor Synnex.

The move marks Fujitsu's first stab at selling its notebooks and tablets through U.S. distributors. While the company has worked directly with PC resellers domestically, it has not yet sold those products via mass distribution.

"This really represents a change in [Fujitsu's] strategy from a direct model to an indirect channel model, and a drive to have more of a foothold in the SMB space," says David Strickland, vice president of product marketing for mobile products at Synnex.

The distributor, which already has agreements with most of the major PC vendors, was named last month one of only a few disties authorized to distribute Panasonic's Toughbooks for the federal market.

Fujitsu has an existing distribution relationship with Synnex in Canada, and the disty's vertical focus and value-added services have helped drum up notebook sales in that country. Now Fujitsu is hoping to tap that same expertise to drive sales in the United States.

The vendor isn't ruling out the possibility of future relationships with other U.S. distributors, but it has no specific plans at this time, says Bill King, executive vice president of sales at Fujitsu.

The channel will play an integral role in helping Fujitsu to meet its goal of growing revenue from $3.5 billion to $10 billion in North America by 2010, King says.

News of the deal follows a similar move by Lenovo, which has inked a deal with D&H Distributing to drive sales of its notebooks and desktops into the SMB space.