Maverick’s claim to the “home of collaboration” has been substantially reinforced by the news that the distributor has expanded its large format displays in the UK. New vendor partners Sharp, ViewSonic, Acer, LG Compro and Iiyama to its Sony and LG to allow Maverick’s integration partners to take full advantage of high-growth applications such as collaboration and digital signage.
Maverick says that the addition of the additional brands is more than a marketing exercise. The distributor is supporting the extended portfolio with a £1.5 million stock investment, a new dedicated LFD team and a selection of pan-European services to help UK integrators working on international roll outs.
The team, which includes Grant Keenan as Business Manager, Blaine Johnstone as Product Manager, Mohammad Oftadeh as Business Development Manager and Matt Keen as General Manager leading a field sales drive, is Maverick’s first dedicated team focussed on large format display, to aid clients with specifying, accessories and technical support.
The relationship with Sharp is potentially the most fruitful for Maverick. The vendor’s takeover by Foxconn opens up a huge catalogue of technologies to exploit in future products. Even Sharp’s existing products have arguably been undersold in the past, with the new partnership with Maverick and an ambitious programme of product launches, including six new products at ISE, will help increase the channel’s knowledge of Sharp’s professional display range.
As the Maverick portfolio expands there will, of course, be the inevitable vendor conflicts. Microsoft Surface Hub is one of the jewels in the Maverick crown, and while the solutions are very different, Sharp’s announcement of the new 80-inch BIG PAD with optical bonding and a new set of 40-inch interactive displays for huddle spaces will consume spend in the collaborative arena. Jon Sidwick, VP of Maverick Europe explains said at ISE: “We are seeing an explosion in the adoption of video in meetings with Skype for Business leading the way in connecting businesses on a global scale. We are working across all our operating regions to create collaboration suites to help vendors and integrators to take advantage of this huge growth market.”
Also at ISE, Sid Stanley, Sharp’s General Manager for Visual Solutions, said: “The way organisations hold meetings is evolving. Meetings can now be more informal, and require versatile technology that is quick to set up, easy to use and that supports personal devices and tablets. Meetings need to be up and running within 30 seconds, whether people are wirelessly sharing content to discuss or using video collaboration. Our response is to broaden our award-winning BIG PAD range, taking its team-working benefits out of the formal meeting room and into the rest of the office.”
An integrated Mini OPS extension slot lets users add extra functions, for example by inserting an optional Wireless Board mobile devices such as laptops or tablets can then be wirelessly connected to share content and control functions, without the need for any cables. Mini OPS is a newer and smaller version of the popular OPS (Open Pluggable Specifications) format.
ViewSonic also represents an opportunity that is yet to be fully realised. a reinforced UK team and the partnership with Maverick should see them bring new focus on supporting partners in the channel. ViewSonic’s portfolio includes both large format and interactive screens from 32” to 84”, which offer feature rich design and competitive price points. Elsewhere in this issue, we report that ViewSonic is raising its channel profile, with an expanded marketing campaign, including sponsorship of the AV News Awards 2018.
Iiyama’s large format display range has been added to the Maverick portfolio after the vendor achieved huge success with its monitors. The ProLite range includes models from 32” to 86” with picture in picture capability and the ability to switch simply from portrait to landscape orientation, useful for digital signage applications.
Of the specialist niche applications, LG is well prepared to compete for the next generation of hotel TVs as well as providing competitive solutions for current demands. The vendor has expanded its relationship with Maverick in the UK, to include its Commercial Lite TV and OLED Commercial Display ranges, in addition to its existing Hotel TV range. The displays, designed for both in room and digital signage applications, feature personalisation and bespoke customisation via LG’s ProCentric Application and easy connectivity through its built-in SuperSign system.
Finally, one for the future. After a long relationship with ACER, across a huge number of products, Maverick will be partnering with the brand on its imminent launch into the large format display market. The complete Maverick portfolio has been shaped to offer resellers and integrators a choice of platforms and price points across a range of market sectors. Maverick’s UK MD Tony Scully explains the overall rationale:
“Sharp’s acquisition by Foxconn and the investment that brings the company makes it a really great time to be working with the brand, with new innovations and some great product sets for our resellers. The additional of LG Compro completes our portfolio and allows us access to the whole display range, which is testament to the great work our teams have done to date across the whole portfolio, with a huge customer breadth buying LG now.
“Acer is an exclusive agreement and that is testament to the great work we’re done with the team across its other products through Maverick and the wider Tech Data group of companies. It’s great to be working with ViewSonic’s Tony White again after we did some great things with him in his last position. The expansion of our range is designed to give our resellers a more holistic portfolio of options and make us the first place you think of when you need a large format display.”
LG’s hotel and commercial OLED displays to join the Maverick portfolio.
