Nairobi — Computer maker Dell has launched a new distributorship model for its line of products in East Africa.

Dubbed, Inspiron Technology, the new master distributor hopes to shore up Dell's market share in the region as well as boost market penetration for its products.

"The Inspiron Technology will help Dell to provide greater market coverage as well as increase customer choice in purchasing Dell products from entry-level desktops and notebooks for the small office and home to fully configured Data centre servers and storage for large companies and Government departments," Steve Mackenzie, the firm's regional manager for Africa said.

Mackenzie said Dell's strategy for Africa is to engage its customers with superior value added and post-sales service through a comprehensive network of authorised resellers.

"Dell brings to Africa the same benefits that it provides to its customers world-wide - quality technology at competitive prices," he said.

The firm has launched what it calls standards-based enterprise solutions that simplify information technology while maximising flexibility, lowering operating costs and improving return on investments.

Among the products are feature-laden desktops, notebooks for wireless computing solutions, precision workstations, powerEdge servers, networking powerconnect switches, printers and a whole range of software solutions.

The computers and software products market in Africa is dominated by Hewlett Packard with 15 per cent, Dell with 10 per cent, Fujitsu Siemens with 7 per cent, Acer with 4 per cent and IBM, 2.5 per cent.

"Our strategy for penetrating this market is to continue with our persistent focus on delivering the best possible customer experience by directly selling standards-based computing products and services," Mackenzie said.

The direct selling business model eliminates retailers that add unnecessary time and cost burden on products and diminishes a firm's understanding of its customers' expectations.

The direct model allows the company to build every system to order and offer customers powerful, and richly configured systems at competitive prices.