Hustle and bustle is ideal for networking and business

The COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2018 procurement meetings at TWTC Exhibition Hall 1 were packed and bustling with excitement on the first day of business matchmaking sessions. Some buyers were newcomers, and some were experienced old-timers, but their objectives were one and the same: to find the most suitable business partners while maintaining old relationships and creating new ones.
OCS Distribution Director of Department Components and Retail Products Aleksandr Rodionov is from Russia, and this marks his second procurement session. The company is currently looking for a wide range of ICT products from components vendors, network monitors and more. Rodionov says that his company are a national brand with branches across Russia.
While his company has worked with Taiwanese companies for many years, the procurement meetings present a great way for him to refresh relationships with vendors, meet new partners, discuss current issues, and look for new products and trends, especially in accessories. “There is a high demand for gaming accessories in Russia,” he explained.
“Components are booming in Russia, as local assembly is becoming popular,” Rodionov said.
Business productivity tools are high on the procurement list for Mark Shanahan, vice-president of merchandising technology products at Staples Canada Inc.
“We think that at COMPUTEX we can find products that can help people become more productive at work,” he said. Those tools include presentation devices that can help people present more eloquently and tools to help people organize computers at their offices.
Having sat down at the matchmaking session last year, Shanahan is in a unique position to comment on the event’s amazing growth. “There are a lot more people on the waiting list,” he said. “The vendors are also definitely a lot more excited about their products.”
“I think we’ll be able to find more innovation today, compared to last year,” he said confidently.
U.S.-company TM Cell is a distributor of mobile handsets for their own brand and other brands. Company representative Charlton Cheng said that they also distribute cell phone accessories and electronic devices such as IoT products, which are available in China and Latin America.
“Our goals are to look for things that are more cutting-edge,” he said, stating that they visit Taiwan often based on its status as a hub for smart technology and software in Asia. “At COMPUTEX, we hope to find more products that are related to IoT and gaming.”
For IoT, he’s eyeing software integration. As for gaming, he has already found two or three companies at the show and one at the procurement session during the time of the interview. They also often purchase memory cards from Taiwan.
“Our company manufactures two kinds of computers — business and consumer, gaming computers,” said Wojciech Kublin, commercial director at Polish company NTT System S.A.
He is looking for new components for computers, and that means scouting for manufacturers in Taiwan who can make memory cards, cases, SSDs and so on. Attending the procurement session and show are great ways for him to maintain relationships with manufacturers.
Luxon Sp. z.o.o. initially focused on manufacturing smart lighting solutions but is venturing into the field of IoT devices. “I am mostly looking for both hardware and software suppliers for IoT cameras, beacons and cloud services,” Vice President Marek Ostrowski said.
Multimedia Technology Purchasing Manager Mark Eichler finds procurement sessions a useful and comfortable environment for his company to scour partnerships and products. These sessions provide time to sit back and conduct one-on-one talks as opposed to walking down the halls looking for opportunities.
Having come to Taiwan for nearly 20 years, distributor Multimedia Technology enjoys a great presence here with well-cultivated relations. “We’re here today to learn about new products, and we hope someone will bring something exciting, but you never know what’s coming,” Eichler said.
For Ingram Micro New Zealand’s Business Manager in Components Jason Simons, although this is his third time at COMPUTEX, 2018 marks his first visit to the procurement sessions. As an IT distributor, the firm sells to a network of resellers and end users.
“We’re using this opportunity to expand our range of products. In particular, we’re talking to flash memory and SSD vendors because we don’t have enough range in that,” he added.
New Zealand is geographically farther from the rest of the world, so coming to a big show like COMPUTEX allows the firm to survey the latest technology before telling consumers at home about the latest market trends, Simons said.