D-Link 2009 Annual Report Download - page 11

North America
As a leading provider of consumer networking devices in
North America, D-Link entered 2009 with two major goals: to
strengthen its position as a leading networking supplier in
the consumer market, and to enhance its reputation and
brand recognition in the enterprise market. With economic
and competitive challenges in the market, it was pertinent for
D-Link to properly convey its message to the mass public. The
Company worked heavily to optimize business by relating its
solutions, marketing and sales organizations to the needs of
the market and to the needs of the specific customer
segments by channel.
In the business sector, the recession challenged businesses to
look at secondary vendors and to stretch their budgets
further for networking infrastructure projects and upgrades.
These were positive factors for D-Link and the customer
segments that the Company historically had success selling
into. As a result, D-Link was recognized and preferred by
value-conscious, brand-agnostic IT decision makers,
especially those who were attracted to a lower total cost of
ownership, and the ability to extend constrained budgets
while still building in quality infrastructure backed by
world-class engineering, services, and support.
2009 also saw D-Link voted as “Number one contender for
wireless and data networking” by Computer Reseller News
(CRN) in a survey of technology industry resellers. This award
was key validation that D-Link was successful in its efforts to
be a true disruptive alternative networking provider in the
United States and Canada, and the award helped increase
awareness among value-added resellers looking to expand
the number of vendors and solutions they could offer to
prospective customers. This recognition, combined with
aggressive marketing programs, enabled D-Link to increase
the number of new authorized resellers in the Company’s
partner program by 23%.
For D-Link, creating and executing marketing and sales
programs throughout North America was a key part of the
Company strategy to enhance brand recognition in both
consumer and business markets. Mixing national campaigns
with tailored vertical, horizontal, and channel-specific
programs enabled the Company to both push and pull
influence for a generation of business on solutions.
D-Link remained the market share leader in Canada for home
networking in 2009. Across North America, D-Link held strong
market share in key technology segments such as 802.11n
Wi-Fi home networking routers, which has become the
leading solution for sharing Internet, e-mail, and devices
throughout the home. With established presence in the home
environment, D-Link built upon this technology footprint by
Facing a difficult market, D-Link North America persevered and leveraged brand
recognition, market share gains, competitive pricing, and aggressive sales incentives to
shake off recessionary woes.
10 | D-Link Corporation | Annual Report 2009