Biggest PC wholesalers in South Africa
South Africans have six major computer wholesalers to thank for the wide selection of PC hardware and other tech readily available to buy from retailers.
Tech stores rely on a consistent flow of stock that they cannot keep on-premises to keep their customers happy.
Wholesalers buy large quantities of products from manufacturers in advance to meet demand when retailers and large businesses require.
They store these products securely in large warehouses and have to be able to distribute them quickly and efficiently when ordered.
An effective wholesaler is also a keen market observer that collects information from retailers about changes in consumer habits to adapt accordingly.
The companies below are the biggest wholesale PC hardware distributors in South Africa, offering a multitude of products from reputable brands.
Esquire Technologies
Esquire Technologies was founded as a small distribution company in Pretoria in 1999 and has expanded into an extensive operation serving over 25,000 reseller partners and 500 online stores.
It now hosts an 8,000-square-metre warehousing and main logistics hub in Midrand dubbed Esquire Digital Lifestyle Park and has regional branches in Cape Town and Durban.
“All regions are fully functional in terms of sales, warehousing and technical support to ensure immediate assistance to our reseller partners,” the company explains on its website.
In addition to South Africa, Esquire provides its products and services in Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Among its plethora of products are PC components, software, mobile devices, audio-visual products like TVs and projectors, cameras, gaming hardware, and computer accessories.
It also offers point-of-sale systems, networking, security cameras and surveillance equipment, and built-to-order servers.
Frontosa Information Technology
Frontosa opened its first branch in 2004 and moved its operations to Cape Town soon thereafter. It also launched a Durban branch in 2013.
The company is a first-line distributor of IT products, with its primary business focus on supplying hardware and software to retailers and small-to-medium enterprises.
The list of brands available from Frontosa is extensive and includes the following prominent manufacturers:
- AMD
- Asus
- Canon
- Cooler Master
- Corsair
- D-Link
- Epson
- Kingston
- Gigabyte
- HP
- Intel
- Kaspersky
- Lexmark
- LG
- Logitech
- Microsoft
- MSI
- Samsung
- Seagate
- Skullcandy
- Steelseries
- Targus
- Transcend
- Verbatim
- Western Digital
Mustek
Mustek has been operating in South Africa for a quarter of a century and is one of the country’s largest assemblers and distributors of PCs and associated ICT products.
Founded in 1987 by the late South African ICT heavyweight David Kan, the company is perhaps best known for its Mecer brand of products, such as inverters and office PCs.
But it also has well-established relationships with leading international tech brands.
Mustek distributes the following product categories and brands in South Africa:
- Computing — Acer, Asus, Asustor, Lenovo, Mecer, MSI, Samsung, Toshiba
- Tablets — Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Mecer, Samsung, Toshiba
- Displays — Acer, Epson, NEC, Philips, Samsung
- Energy — Mustek Solar and Mecer Inverters
- Networking and Enterprise — Mecer, Huawei, Hytera, Lenovo, Molex, NEC, Netis, PPC Belden, Scale Computing, Siemon
- Printing and Scanning — Brother, Epson, Fujitsu
- Peripherals — Afrison, Eaton, Everki, Hikvision, Mecer, Microsoft, Philips
- Point-of-sale and security devices — Mustek
Pinnacle
Pinnacle was the foundation from which Alviva Holdings, one of the largest JSE-listed technology groups in South Africa, was formed.
The company changed its name from Pinnacle Holdings to Alviva Holdings in 2017 as it diversified its offerings and acquired several businesses operating in different verticals.
Pinnacle is now one of Alviva’s ICT distributors and offers a broad range of products held in seven warehouses across Southern Africa.
It employs 591 people and has its headquarters in Midrand, but also operates branches in Durban, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Nelspruit, Port Elizabeth and Namibia.
In addition to its South African business, it has a dedicated division for growing its reach in the SADC region, including in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, and Malawi.
It also aims to establish a presence in east Africa with a headquarters in Mombasa to serve the horn of Africa region.
Rectron
Rectron, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mustek Group, was founded in 1995 and was originally a four-man operation. It has grown to more than 300 staff members since then.
Its main customers consist of resellers, system integrators, managed service providers, online stores, and retailers in South Africa.
Its footprint stretches across five of South Africa’s provinces — with a presence in Gauteng, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and the Free state.
Tarsus Distribution
Formerly called MB Technologies, Tarsus is the oldest technology distributor in South Africa, having started its business in 1985.
Alviva Holdings acquired it in November 2020 for R185 million.
Tarsus has a head office in Johannesburg, with branches in Cape Town, Durban, Gabarone, and Windhoek.
Its technology solutions are geared towards business needs in particular and include cybersecurity, hyperconvergence, networking, printers, servers, storage, and supply chain products.
Like its sister company Pinnacle, it also has an exhaustive list of well-known brands among its partners.
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