Corsair targets Australia for high-end PC peripherals

Corsair has set its sights on Australian national retailers, as it looks for growth at the high-end of a challenging PC market.

Known for decades for its PC memory products, Corsair moved into high-end gaming peripherals several years ago and now hopes to take those products to national retailers in Australia.

While officials won’t put a specific date on the plan, Asia regional sales director Tim Handley told CRN the hope is to make the move within the next couple of quarters. Recently the vendor added Synnex as distributor.

The focus is on high-end products, with Handley saying Corsair’s top-selling keyboard selling for just over $200.

Despite a lacklustre overall forecast for PC shipments this year, Corsair officials are confident there is money still to be found in the segment.

“I don’t think it’s any secret the desktop market is shrinking,” said Corsair’s visiting senior vice president of worldwide sales, Bertrand Chevalier. “But it doesn’t mean the amount of money going into desktop is shrinking.”

“Market share is growing, the product range is growing. The desktop market is moving toward the high end and its good business for us,” Chevalier told CRN.

Chevalier also pointed to several key products he argues will help drive demand: Intel Skylake, Windows 10, Nvidia’s 9080i and DDR4.

“We’re really bullish for the rest of the year,” he said, “You get all of that line-up exactly at the same time and we think a lot of people are going to take advantage.”