Global technology distributor Ingram Micro appears to be poised to shut its South African operation.

TechCentral has learnt from two separate sources that staff were informed on Tuesday of the plan to close the South African business.

The company first entered South Africa in 2007 in partnership with MB Technologies (today known as Tarsus) to distribute IT components and products to value-added resellers, system integrators and other customers across sub-Saharan Africa.

TechCentral was not successful in reaching anyone for comment in the South African office, with a receptionist saying no one was available to field a media query.

Svetlana Sorokina, the company’s regional marketing director based in Dubai, said via text message that the company cannot comment on the developments. She said, however, that Ingram Micro will issue a “press announcement” on Thursday to provide more detail.

The South African operation provided procurement, sales, distribution, technical and repair support and logistics services, with the business structured around three main solution divisions to deliver a portfolio covering data capture and point of sale; networking and communications; cloud services; and training services.

$50-billion company

Ingram Micro, which was founded in 1979 in California as Micro D, is today owned by China’s HNA Technology, which acquired the business in 2016 for about US$6-billion.

According to the company’s website, Ingram Micro has over $50-billion in annual revenue, operates in 64 countries and ships more than 550 million products a year to its clients. It also handles one in three mobile devices sold in the US. — (c) 2019 NewsCentral Media