TechPac makes play for Sony

Broadbased distributor Tech Pacific has signed a deal with Sony to distribute PlayStation gaming consoles to Australia's PC channel from November.

Kerry Baillie, country manager for TechPac in Australia, said the distributor had signed a deal to start distributing Sony PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 to its stable of computer resellers. The deal would likely be reviewed annually.

"Going forward, we hope to grow the relationship with Sony, but that's in the lap of the gods," he said.

Baillie said he saw the deal as assisting the channel to take a piece of the burgeoning digital home entertainment market, which was mostly dominated by the consumer retailers with whom Sony dealt direct.

"We want to be part of that," he said.

Baillie said Sony's relationships with its traditional retail channel would continue.

Sony's main competitors in the gaming market, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo, were not working with the IT channel, he added.

"We are very excited. It's a big opportunity," Baillie said.

Michael Ephraim, MD of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, said the deal would take effect in November.

"[The deal] will enable PC resellers to take advantage of demand for networking, entertainment and online business," he said.

Ephraim claims traditional PC resellers could be in the best position to assist people into home networking as consumers increasingly adopt broadband and wireless technologies.

Sony has about 70 percent market share in the gaming console market, ahead of second-place Microsoft Xbox at 32 percent. Both companies announced online console gaming options in October.