It also has a new channel incentive program which it is launching 1st April and wants to tie this in with the launch of seven products at a channel event at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney on 6th April.
According to Dipak Kumar, general manager Digital Presentations Solutions Division at Hitachi, one of the market segments the company was missing out on was the IT channel.
"We never really focused on this area prior to Hitachi coming out of the consumer products," he said.
"The focus was on Pro AV and our competitors. Now that we are focusing on the IT channel we believe we can offer resellers and dealers a choice.
"We are starting a recruitment drive in that area and Corporate Express is part of that package. We want to recruit two distributors. We are going to build on our current Pro AV channel with a new incentive program to penetrate the education market."
Hitachi became partners with Corporate Express Australia in January this year.
A numberof projects which have taken place in the last six months include Hitachi installing interactive whiteboards and ultra short throw LCD projectors at the Sound House VectorLab at the Powerhouse Museum.
Kumar said the company is also about to announce a major win with a big telco company in Queensland.
"Just because we have ventured out of the consumer product group it does not mean we have pulled out of this country. We are still very strong," he said.
"The wins that we will be announcing confirm that we are putting a lot of focus and more emphasis into this area.
"We have put a marketing program in place and have a number of channel incentives.
"The economic crisis is going to affect everyone. In my group (Digital Presentations Solutions Division) the industry is increasing profits because the Government is putting a lot of money into the education sector," he added.
Hitachi currently has 30-35 resellers in Australia and 12 of those are premium resellers.
It has also recruited two new members of staff including Sue Perez who will work in sales and Miranda Fong admin support for the channel, both in NSW.
Hitachi Australia announced it was pulling out of the consumer market in Australia in January last year. The consumer products include camcorders and flat-panel TVs
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