Synnex opens in Auckland

Distributor and whitebox builder Synnex Australia has opened in New Zealand, leasing an office in the Auckland suburb of East Tamaki.

Frank Sheu, managing director at Synnex Australia, said the New Zealand operation would be run by country manager Richard Harri.

"[New Zealand] doesn't really have a major player in the whitebox space. Whereas we have lots of expertise in the market segment," Sheu said.

"This is to go in to help support the local resellers, particularly whitebox assemblers, by providing them just-in-time supply like we do in Australia."

Synnex was targeting growth by overseas expansion and New Zealand, despite its small size, was closer and "economically, culturally and politically" similar to Australia, he added.

He said Auckland-based Harri would be supported by operations manager Rex Chen and product specialist Felix Wong in heading a team of 12 staff, expected to swell to 20 by year-end.

Harri, Chen and Wong had extensive experience in the New Zealand IT channel, he said.

Harri hailed from stints in channel-facing roles at Tech Pacific and Ingram Micro New Zealand, Chen from Kiwi distributor Morning Star and Wong from Auckland-based A Plus, Sheu said.

Sheu said the company might also set up additional warehousing, in the South Island, in the near future.

Also, if the New Zealand operation did well, he expected to open a larger premises across the Tasman within two years, he said.

After that, Synnex might consider setting up a build-to-order facility there like the one it had in Australia, he said.

Sheu said his original plan had been to partner a New Zealand company. However, that idea had not borne fruit so Synnex had decided to go it alone.

"My plan hasn't been successful. I had been speaking to three companies in Auckland, but couldn't make a deal," he said. "So we had to start from scratch again, like I have been doing in Australia."

That said, all indications were the operation in New Zealand could do very well, Sheu said.

Synnex Australia is a subsidiary of global distributor Synnex Technology International.