The Soft Pitch

By now its well into the evening in China and our Avnet Technology Solutions team in Asia is gearing up to execute on the announcement made in Beijing earlier today that Avnet is now going after the solutions distribution business in China. This didn’t get the same splash as our announcement two weeks ago of the acquisition of Nippon in Japan, virtually doubling our business in that market.  It didn’t get the same splash only because we’re working to build our solutions business in China, not buy it. Several reasons for this, but foremost being that we want the business to work with the rest of Avnet’s culture and offer customers the same dedication to value.  So, the team is hiring key individuals, leveraging our existing infrastructure (more than 15 facilities including warehouses, an integration center, and Avnet Electronics Marketing offices), nurturing relationships with suppliers (we’ll start from IBM and I’m sure very quickly add others), and reaching out to customers.

The world is in an economic crisis – turmoil – upheaval – shift –  whatever – pick your term. (As an aside, is it just me or are the headlines becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy scaring people and businesses into pulling back, thereby triggering more sluggish sales, which triggers a headline, which promotes more fear, leading to less spending, which triggers a headline…?)  Meanwhile, for those prudent and careful business managers this time represents opportunities to invest.  Do we need to readjust for the short term? Yes and yes we, Avnet, are taking the appropriate steps. Will this downturn last forever? No. So while we’re aligning resources for the short term, we’re still investing for the long term. We’re investing in the right places, with the right resources to be ahead of the market and positioned well for the turn. Asia is a great example. Millions of businesses and people, technologically savvy, and ready for expansion.  We’re ready too.

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