As those of you who read this column regularly know, last week Saudi Gazette ran a report about Belkin's Patrick Hayati backing out of an interview about Linksys' future in Saudi Arabia, after the brand's recent acquisition by Belkin. This week, Mohammed Meraj Hoda, VP, Linksys International, steps up to answer the questions that Hayati wouldn't. Hoda explained that Belkin acquired the Linksys business earlier this year as a package that included its proven products, technology, well-known Linksys brand and talented employees. He advised that Belkin intends to maintain the Linksys brand and will offer support for Linksys products as part of this transaction. All valid warranties will be honored by Belkin for current and future Linksys products. In regards to Linksys's resellers and partners in the Kingdom, “Nothing changes.” Hoda said, “We continue to run the Linksys business in the Kingdom like before. The same team will be handling the Linksys business as prior to the acquisition.” Hoda asserted that there will be investment in both the Belkin and Linksys brands and they will be positioned side by side. “We are not planning to consolidate them into a single brand at this point,” he remarked. “The Linksys brand has a strong heritage in the tech community and is well known in the home and small business networking category. Linksys has pioneered wireless networking and it all started with the WRT54G that is seen as an icon by the industry for wireless networks. We will continue to build the Linksys heritage and invest in the brand.” As in the past, Linksys will have a focus on both the Small Business sector and the consumer market but recommends that businesses work through a specialist partner to ensure that product selection and set up are ideal. “Linksys has a strong track record in the Small Business market and in our experience Small Business customers require a different approach in product, processes and customer support,” stated Hoda. “When mission critical business processes run on the network there are different expectations from a support point of view compared to the consumer market. Small businesses often work with a business partner that helps them select, connect and maintain the network - and support is an important factor for them.” That said, Linksys is working with partners and resellers to raise awareness of its networking solutions that can bring efficiencies and new capabilities to consumers in their homes. Hoda believes that a powerful home network is essential for consumers who have more devices than ever and want to do more with these devices. Many consumers are reaching the boundaries of what their current devices can do alone. They are coming to understand that a powerful home network enables a lot of the experience on the devices that they use, such as tablets and Smart TVs. In part, Linksys will encourage the growth and development of home and small business networks by working with telcos such as Saudi Telecom Company (STC) and Etisalat, which are already offering and recommending Linksys solutions to their broadband subscribers. As for product availability in Saudi Arabia and the import the latest Linksys devices to the Kingdom, Hoda advised that, “Importing wireless products often requires specific regulatory approvals which can sometimes delay the import of goods. To make sure that we can always procure orders in a timely manner our distributors keep up to 8-weeks of inventory in Saudi Arabia. Besides that we are looking into solutions to further improve service levels to our partners, for example, by procuring orders from our new distribution facility in Jebel Ali.”
