Altech Computers has been appointed exclusive distributor for ELSA videocards in Australia, bringing the vendor’s range of ATi and Nvidia-based graphics cards back into the local market after a two-year absence.
Taiwanese video-card manufacturer, ELSA, left the Australian market about two years ago following a decision to cut ties with its former - and now defunct - distributor, Oxygen Corporation.
Altech sales and marketing director, Safa Joumaa, said the new deal would see Altech distribute the complete range of VGA cards released by ELSA, extending from its lower-end models through to the company’s professional series of graphics cards.
Although Altech already distributed ABIT and XpertVision cards, other “big brand” names, such as Gigacube, LeadTek and Gecube were already firmly entrenched in the Australian market, Joumaa said.
“We were lucky to get the ELSA contract,” he said. “ELSA will be a force to be reckoned with in Australia.”
In particular, Gecube and Gigacube sales will be impacted by the re-entrance of ELSA videocards locally, he said.
Joumaa said Altech initially approached ELSA to distribute its product in Australia.
“ELSA saw how aggressive we are in the graphics cards market and said ‘Yes, you can push our product in Australia’,” he said.
ELSA cards had already proved popular with Altech customers, Joumma said. Initial stock supplies virtually sold out in the first day of sales, Joumaa said.
“Our next order is due in two weeks but we’ve already put order another in to maintain stock.”
Altech had initially ordered 700 to 1000 units of ELSA cards. They included five ELSA Nvidia-based cards, six ATi-based cards and one AGP workstation model.
The most popular model had proved to be the ELSA’s ATi-based Falcox 960XT, which sold out in two hours, he said.
Joumaa said although the quality of the products spoke for themselves, the selling point of ELSA’s range was its warranty returns and replacement of product for consumers.
“A lot of VGA vendors aren’t as good at this – some consumers may have to wait two to four weeks for replacement of products,” he said.
