Western Digital in Saudi Arabia

By Khaled A., on September 1st, 2009

Western Digital is my favorite hard drive brand. Their drives are the most reliable I have ever used. I have contacted their email support many times and they always respond in less than 24 hours with useful information, something other companies should learn from them.

wdlogoc

Western Digital has a strong presence in Saudi Arabia thanks to their only distributor in Saudi Arabia: Nahil Computers. I estimate over %95 of OEM 3.5″ hard drives sold in Saudi Arabia are Western Digital drives. Other hard drive makers: Seagate, Samsung, and Hitachi are missing from the Saudi market.

Seagate’s authorized distributors’ list shows Saudi Arabia as an option but no distributors are available. Even though they have a “Collection Point In Saudia Arabia”. Seagate, it’s Saudi Arabia.

The Collection Point processes Return Material Authorization (RMA) disc drives at one central location, speeding up and simplifying the return procedures for Seagate disc drives.

You can buy those brands online or from the specialty store Softland in Riyadh.

As for Western Digital’s distributor in Saudi Arabia, Nahil Computers. I’ve heard good things about their support services for hard drives. However their site is another example of inferior websites for Saudi companies. Their latest news is from 2006 and clicking on products will open an IFRAME with the other company’s website inside! If you visit their hard drive page you will notice it will just open Western Digital’s homepage in a frame (view source code and look for the IFRAME tag), so sluggish.

Apparently Western Digital also made a deal with Jarir Bookstore (not my favorite bookstore). From AME Info: “This strategic partnership with Jarir Bookstore demonstrates Western Digital’s commitment in KSA. We can now service the growing Saudi market with an established, reputable partner that will offer our customers not only the best products and technology but the best end-to-end customer experience”. The offers are on Jarir’s website, they even have the WD TV HD Media Player for 449SR.

September 1st, 2009 | Tags: , , | Category: Companies | 2 comments

Logitech Saudi Arabia

By Khaled A., on June 8th, 2009

In this series of posts I will profile different global technology brands and provide info on how to acquire them in Saudi Arabia. We start with Logitech, one of the best computer peripheral companies in the world.

Currently, Logitech’s only distributor in Saudi Arabia is supposed to be “Mishaal Alsudairy Office for Commercial Services”. Again with Saudi Arabia technology sites: bad design, redirects to another URL mso.dinpl.com and outdated information (Gitex Riyadh 2007).

You can buy Logitech devices from Jarir Book Store (a book store not selling books? no comment from me there!) but they are overpriced ( a $54/205SR mouse is sold at Jarir for $80/300SR). The other method is to just buy from Amazon and ship using a service such as Aramex or myus.

logitech-logoLooking around the Internet I found that Logitech was looking for a new distributor in Saudi Arabia according to ITP: Logitech set to appoint new Saudi distribution. But that was as old as May 28, 2007 and no new updates.

“We are currently looking at the possibilities of expanding our distribution channel to get closer to the market there as the retail sector is developing so much” said Robert Van Der Vegte, director Benelux and MEA at Logitech. “Saudi Arabia is the second biggest market in the region so it is time now for us to seriously and professionally go after that market” he said.

It’s been over a year, Mr. Robert. Have you found a new Logitech distributor in Saudi Arabia already?

Do you use Logitech devices? Feel free to share your experience on their hardware. Originally posted on khaled.us.

June 8th, 2009 | Tags: , , | Category: Companies | 3 comments