ASBIS Expands TOSHIBA Notebook Distribution in Eastern Europe

Limassol (Cyprus), May 22, 2007 – ASBISc Enterprises Plc (ASBIS), a leading supplier of computer components to the EMEA emerging markets, has announced today that it has expanded its distribution agreement with Toshiba Europe GmbH, a division of Toshiba Corporation, to include Ukraine, one of the largest markets in Eastern Europe.

This expansion complements the existing authorized distributorship agreement between ASBIS and Toshiba, covering 15 countries of the EMEA region – Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Albania, Libya, Yemen and Iraq.

“Over the last year, Toshiba has observed increased demand for its mobile products in the growing markets of Eastern Europe, so it makes good business sense for us to enhance our market presence in that region,” said Pieter Ickx, general manager for emerging markets EMEA at Toshiba. “ASBIS has a well-established customer base that opens up new opportunities for Toshiba in these rapidly growing markets, and the addition of Ukraine is a natural progression of our existing relationship in the EMEA region.”

“We consider Ukraine our second most significant market in the CIS after Russia. Over the last years, this market has been growing at a faster pace than the neighbouring countries,” said Igor Snytko, regional general manager, CIS and Baltics, at Toshiba Europe GmbH. “Therefore it is very important for us to work here with loyal and efficient partners who share our objectives and approaches. Over the previous years we have been able to ramp up our sales in this country, and we hope that the agreement with such a serious distributor as ASBIS Ukraine will help further enhance Toshiba’s positions on the Ukrainian market, and contribute to meeting the growing consumer demand for top quality mobile computers.”

In line with the agreement, ASBIS Ukraine, which has wide regional presence across the country, is already beginning an active promotion of the whole range of Toshiba’s mobile PCs, and is about to start offering its partners all certified series of Toshiba notebooks – Satellite, Qosmio, Tecra and Portégé – meeting expectations of both home users and corporate clients.

Laurent Journoud, ASBIS’ executive vice-president, sales and marketing, said, “The expansion of our Toshiba distribution to Ukraine enables us to strengthen our mobile offerings with industry leading notebooks that meet the needs of a wide range of customers. Toshiba’s product mix is excellent and their market strategy is brilliant. ASBIS intends to expand the presence of Toshiba notebooks and help increase its market share on this market. We strongly believe that our expanded cooperation with Toshiba will be extremely beneficial for the vendor, for us, and especially for our customers in Ukraine”.

About Toshiba

The Computer Systems Division of Toshiba Europe GmbH is a leading vendor for mobile computing solutions.  Headquartered in Neuss, Germany, the Computer Systems Division of Toshiba Europe GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Toshiba Corporation, the world’s eighth-largest computer and electronics company.

Toshiba Corporation is a leader in information and communication systems, electronic components, consumer products and power systems.  The company’s integration of these wide-ranging capabilities assures its position as an innovator in advanced components, products and systems.  Toshiba has more than 172,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of over US$52 billion (2006).

For more information about the Computer Systems Division of Toshiba Europe GmbH please visit http://eu.computers.toshiba-europe.com. 

About ASBIS

ASBISc Enterprises PLC (LSE: ASB.L) specialises in the distribution of IT products from worldwide leading manufacturers such as Intel, AMD, Hitachi, Seagate, and Samsung. ASBIS has four master distribution centers which supply products for in-country operations across emerging markets of EMEA.
Central purchasing, online B2B platform, international experience of corporate management and the local expertise of country teams, together with an intimate knowledge of Eastern Europe and its myriad of cultures have allowed ASBIS to forge a premier position in this region and has also enabled it to penetrate the emerging markets of EMEA quickly and cost-effectively.
As a result, ASBIS is now one of the largest distributors of IT components and the only company able to distribute to the vast majority of countries in Eastern Europe. The size of its operations means ASBIS is able to pass on significant value to its customers. ASBIS has more than 700 employees, over 14000 customers and annual revenues at record level in excess of US$ 1 billion (2006). For more information, visit the company's website at www.asbis.com.

Additional information:

Victor Lukyanov
PR Manager
ASBISc Enterprises Plc
Victor.Lukjanov @ asbis.net

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