UMAX to broaden market lines
UMAX Technologies Inc. will make moves to broaden its presence in the U.S. market this spring. The company said it will restructure its operations to offer a wider range of products, including networking equipment, notebooks and Network Computers.
Previously focused on the scanner market, UMAX Technologies will provide a new umbrella for four divisions: Communications, which will sell hubs and routers and well as Intel-based Network Computers; Notebooks, which will handle a forthcoming line of PC-compatible laptops; Scanners; and Systems, which will offer servers and both Mac and Windows machines for the desktop. The Systems division will incorporate current Mac cloner UMAX Computer Corp. of Fremont, Calif.
The restructuring is set to begin in April and due for completion by the end of July. The company said its first moves will merge its sales and support operations; no layoffs are expected. Vincent Tai, currently president of UMAX Technologies, will captain the larger Fremont organization, with revenue estimated at $500 million.
"We want to broaden the appeal of UMAX in the United States," said Peter Mehring, general manager and vice president of R&D for UMAX Computer, who will become head of the Systems division. "UMAX is in a unique position to offer corporate accounts communications equipment, peripherals, and both PCs and Macs, all from one vendor - soup-to-nuts solutions."
The moves were foreshadowed at November's Comdex/Fall '97 show in Las Vegas, where UMAX displayed its familiar SuperMac clones and scanners alongside a variety of imaging and networking hardware from its Taipei, Taiwan corporate parent, UMAX Data Systems. It also recently revised its Web site at http://www.umax.com along the new, unified marketing strategy.
Mehring said UMAX will concentrate its efforts in the retail and mail-order channels and phase out direct sales of PC desktops. He said the company hopes to use the brisk sales of its scanners to promote its PC desktop line. UMAX's North American scanner sales recently hit a rate of 150,000 units per month, he said.
Analysts said the focused approach offers an outlet for more of the multinational company's diverse technologies and provides a single face to customers and resellers.
"It's really a branding issue," said analyst Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies Consulting of San Jose. He said UMAX had initially tried to do too much with its different channel strategies. The company had gained market recognition with its scanner and clone lines "that lets it leverage past the introductory phase of getting its name out in the market."
Meanwhile, Mehring said, UMAX's current Mac OS license allows the company to sell Mac systems through the end of the year. He added that the company has new Mac products in the pipeline.