Hi-Grade Ltd., one of the U.K.’s largest computer assemblers, is bringing its products to Australia through a distribution agreement with QDI Interactive Computers.
Hi-Grade began its life in the U.K. as a small reseller-cum-assembler of PCs and notebooks, and over the past 16 years has developed into one of Europe’s leading PC suppliers to government and corporate markets. It has signed a distribution agreement with Victorian-based QDI Interactive Computers, and has appointed a business development director to assist QDI in pushing the product through the channel as well as selling direct to end users.
The Hi-Grade notebook products being brought into the Australian market are tested rigorously and differentiated according to the quality and strength of the materials used to manufacture them. In the U.K., most of Hi-Grade’s sales are in government markets and it has won tenders for notebooks in rugged environments such as the military, education or health industries.
QDI business development manager Danny Wang said the products should prove especially popular in Australia as the rugged notebook models come with a two-year warranty which includes accidental damage cover at no extra cost.
The company’s Australian operations will officially be launched in September but several trial customers have come on board in the meantime. In testing the market before the initial launch, Wang said the demand from the channel for the notebooks has been overwhelming. QDI has already signed up 30 per cent more resellers since it began looking at distributing the Hi-Grade products.