Despite extensive comment about the state of the PC industry, Buffalo Technology is enjoying continued growth in its penetration of the PC market with its highest ever volume of memory sales into both systems integrators and the upgrade sector. With memory prices only just beginning to harden after a period of being at their lowest ever, Buffalo is able to benefit from the strength of parent company Melco's position as number-three memory supplier in the world to sustain its volume of supply while keeping prices competitive. Buffalo's customer base in the UK has grown from its roots as TechWorks where it was well established in the Macintosh upgrade market, to a strong position in channel sales of memory into the PC arena.
Buffalo's position in the PC upgrade market was boosted recently with the introduction of the company's 'Easy PC' range - an aggressively priced family of generic upgrades compatible with the majority of current PC and notebook computers.
According to Sales Manager, Julie Boyle, "Customers have realised that there has never been a better time to buy memory - new systems can be offered with a higher specification, and older systems can be upgraded to give better performance and a longer operational life".
This is endorsed by Chris Simpson, of MicroWarehouse: "Our relationship with Buffalo goes back many years, during which time we have worked in close partnership to develop our memory business", he says.
"Consistent product quality and competitive pricing from Buffalo have supported our strong growth in memory unit sales, which have helped offset the dramatic decline in unit selling price.
We continue to view the memory market as a margin opportunity to complement our growing desktop and notebook computer business".
Buffalo expanded into Europe just over a year ago as parent company Melco decided to use the brand already well established in Japan and the Far East for all its overseas operations when it acquired Techworks in the UK and USA.
Since then it has opened additional offices and support centres in Europe and aggressively won market share in its key target markets of memory and wireless networking.