E-sports, streaming drive gaming PC purchases: PLE Computers

With business development manager Anthony Hollingsworth

What games devices and PC brands do you specialise in?

Primarily ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI in the gaming PC and notebook market. The gaming industry is rapidly growing and has an increasing number of smaller boutique brands such as Primochill and Singularity which provide niche products in areas such as watercooling. We’re one of the only resellers in the country building, selling and supporting watercooled desktop computers.

When did your company first get involved in this area?

Gaming has always been a big part of our business, but in 2010 we decided to focus more on the segment and, with the growth in gaming, it has proven to be a great wave to ride.

What credentials and certifications does your business have?

We keep our staff up to date with as many vendor-based training programs as possible. Working with some of the smaller boutique brands to ensure components are RCM compliant can be time-consuming. Our custom PCs have to be MEPS compliant too.

Which distributors do you use?

Synnex, Ingram, Leader Computers, MMT and Dicker Data provide the majority of our gear.

What are the most interesting new developments in performance PCs?

AMD’s recent Ryzen and Threadripper processors have really stepped up the game over the last six months. It's exciting to see a competitive processor market again. While Intel still makes the best gaming processor, our industry is healthiest when there is competitive pressure at all levels.

Can you tell us about a recent deployment?

Last year we started working with a start-up gaming lounge, Escape Portal, which has fast become a meeting place for gamers in Perth. We’re building another batch of gaming PCs for them, to bring their total number to about 80.

What factors are driving customers in this area?

E-sports and streaming are the next key demand drivers for gaming PCs. As we see more mainstream adoption of e-sports in Australia, we expect to see the market continue to develop. I can foresee a future where e-sports viewership in Australia rivals traditional sports as a mainstream entertainment medium.

Gaming devices are… 

Too expensive due to digital currency miners buying up graphics cards. I’m a big believer in the future of digital currencies, but it is time for that industry to find a more sustainable model for the future.