AMD opens local office

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 08 Aug 2007

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has opened its long-expected local office in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange building, at the Exchange Square, in Sandton.

The office is a result of AMD's steady growth in the South African market, which indicates the importance of meeting increasing customer needs.

According to BMI-TechKnowledge's Quarterly Tracker Report for Q4 2006, AMD grew twice as fast as the local market in 2006, showing 61.3% year-on-year unit growth, while the rest of the market showed 28.4% growth.

"The local market is showing fast growth that is expected to continue," says Gautam Srivastava, VP, sales and marketing; MD, Middle East, Africa (MEA) and Pakistan, AMD.

"To address this growth, it is important to build a sustainable infrastructure in SA, with a team that can work directly with our customers in meeting their needs and strengthening existing partnerships."

Srivastava notes that the new office will allow AMD to increase customer choice in the region, strengthen its distribution channels, and focus on establishing long-term relationships with partners and key customers, particularly government and large enterprises.

"We will work closely with computer manufacturers, distributors, resellers, government and end-users and deliver solutions that best address the local market," says Srivastava.

The local operation will be headed by newly-appointed country manager Imi Mosaheb, who brings 16 years of experience in the technology industry to the role.

Asked about AMD's One Laptop per Child (OLPC) programme, in light of the Classmate PC pilot project launch last week, Mosaheb says: "OLPC does not currently have plans to roll-out in SA."

He adds that OLPC is just one of the pillars of AMD's 50x15 initiative. "We believe there are many ways to accomplish the mission of 50x15, a bold and far-reaching effort launched by AMD in 2004 at the World Economic Forum," Mosaheb says.

"The OLPC project is one of many solutions currently being developed to address the critical issue of making computers and the Internet available to a large portion of the world's population. 50x15 is well under way in SA with further projects taking place in the coming months."