Renting a Printer in Australia Just got a Little Easier

Dell has revealed its first printer distribution partner in Australia, Altech, but they’ve come a little late to the game.

Printer rental vendors such as Vernon Computer Source already have a foothold in the region. Vernon’s Australian branch rents and leases out a variety of copiers, printers, computers, tablet PCs, iPads and other tech products. These products are often manufactured by the industry’s leading companies, including Dell, IBM, Lenovo, NEC, Sun and Apple.

So it will be interesting to see whether the thirteen printer units that Altech stands to distribute will find their place into the Australian business market, among the other competition.

In an article featured on CRN, writer Negar Salek, pointed out that previously, Dell had lacked the distribution power to build a real, direct presence in Australia.

Salek also reports that she inquired as to the possibility of this distribution expansion extending to other markets, such as the sales of PCs and laptops. To this, Dell’s A/NZ channel partner director, Jay Turner, responded, “never say never.”

Turner added that Dell was “always looking” to expand its Australian distribution branch beyond printers.

Altech has some logistical value to Dell, as it has warehouses in most of Australia’s major ports, including Sydney. This new arrangement will better place Dell to service Australia’s small and large business segments by improving the supply chain flow.

And Turner had a few things to say about the arrangement: “This agreement shows our commitment to ensure [partners'] requirements are better met. This made sense to make sure they’re getting the right products.”

He added, “We’ve had quite a lot going on over the last six months or so. Our customers want even more access to printing and toner supply. There’s been a mountain of work inside Dell - we’ve been investing in people, we have focused business development managers for A/NZ and Ben [Guthrie] has over 20 years printing experience.”

But this new development doesn’t mean that printer rental vendors are out of the running – it’s on the contrary. Dell has openly reached out to both resellers and MSPs for new service opportunities.

But only time will tell what this new arrangement means for the printer rental industry.

Editor's Note: Looking to rent a printer in Australia? Come on over for a FlexQuote.