PC Retail

Graphics card, processors and RAM might be the 'sexy' components when it comes to what goes inside a PC. And while, of course, they are very important – the truth is that the whole can never amount to anything more than the sum of its parts.

So when looking at what else goes into a PC, it is no surprise that PSUs, cooling systems and cases are the last things that are on most people's minds.

Indeed, among our channel experts this month, there was an overriding sense that the products were restricted to the niche – but lucrative – do-it-yourself market. However, there are signs that this might not always have been the case, as Antec's senior vice president Scott Richards suggests:

"The most important thing about PC components is that the DIY and upgrade market is a growing one. So unlike the desktop PC market in general, resellers who stock and promote cases, power supplies and cooling products will find a nice, niche market that will supply them with incremental revenue and growth."

It's a point echoed by Realtime's purchasing director, Julie Darrington: "Realtime have traditionally focused on the gaming and enthusiast markets, especially when it comes to graphics, but over the past couple of years, we've seen a consistent increase in not just the volume of cases, PSUs and cooling products, but also a great range, more designs and higher ASPs and specifications. It seems brand, performance and reputation are the key factors that drive consumer demand."

Gigabyte's Johnathon Tsao disagrees though, saying that the market, rather than being a growing one, is one that is getting even more niche. It's not all bad news, however, with those who are still around likely to be around for a lot longer thanks to users' insistence on building their own PCs – meaning there is still a very, very lucrative market.

"The reason that product solutions have continued to do well is that, while the DIY market may have narrowed to make way for other solutions, DIY system builders have one thing in common: they still want to do it themselves."

It isn't just DIYers and enthusiasts who are driving the market, according to our channel experts. Several said that green concerns were beginning to impact on the way that people buy, and upgrade, their PCs. "Vendors are increasingly focusing on the green issue," according to VIP product manager Victoria Davies. "Most, including Thermaltake and Antec, have a good range of 80plus PSUs."

It's a point that Hiper's marketing director Alexander Mast picks up on too: "The strongest trend is efficiency to protect the environment – and, of course, to lower your utility bills."

However, Mast stresses that as vendors, it is up to them as much as it is their customers to make sure that components don't damage the environment: "It's a very important responsibility that we have as a manufacturer. Therefore, all new PSUs that we've developed perform at 85 per cent efficiency on average."

Speaking about another nature-based issue, Enermax's head of marketing Moin Ali stresses that the safety of equipment is extremely important – ranging from product quality and their safety implications through to reducing the risk of damage being done to other components.

Recalling one of the funnier occasions when a poor quality product had lead to disaster, he tells

PC Retail: "Sometimes our RMA teams receive some truly bizarre RMA requests.

"One customer, stating that the PSU didn't work, returned his PC for testing – only for our team to find due to his poor quality case, a lizard had managed to get into the system and urinate all over his motherboard. We might have been laughing but he wasn't." He added that it wasn't uncommon for small creatures such as spiders, lizards and mice to sneak into systems and cause damage.

But is there a market in the lower climbes of the sector? No, according to Darrington: "The lower end of the market is ever more competitive with no money to be made. Too many retailers and resellers trash the pricing in the relatively high-margin area."

However, as she explains, better products can encourage customers to splash out a bit more than they were originally planning on doing. "Products that offer a unique selling point may be more expensive, but also drive demand away from the lower end of the market" (see page 73 for some recommendations).

Wider factors are beginning to impact on the pricing of other components, as Davies explains: "The materials cost for PSUs and cases have increased this year and this has now impacted the UK market with all the major players increasing prices simultaneously. As it has been across the board, it should not impact sales, but it does create the ideal opportunity for those with older stock to gain a good margin."

However, while some components can depreciate and lose their desirability over time, cooling solutions and cases tend to have a much longer shelf life than processors – a point backed up by Tsao. "Cooling solutions have always been viewed as a support SKU to compensate for poor margins on the major components and to boost the bottom line, rather than a central one like processors and graphics cards.

"They've also never really been seen as the hottest product in terms of run-rate and revenue, but they aren't as susceptible as other components to depreciation and also have a long shelf-life. A cooling solution, for example, can have a shelf-life of more than ten times that of a CPU."

Another area that was identified for potential growth in the near future was Micro-ITX cases: "This will be prompted by Intel's marketing of standardised mini-ITX form factor motherboards and will allow both DIY and system integrators to make desktop systems in increasingly smaller cases," explains Richards.

Quality is another area that our channel experts touched on, with both Mast and Moin agreeing that the quality of PSUs not only has an effect on the customer and their experience, but also the likelihood that a retailer would have to go through the hassle of filing an RMA with a distributor.

"Look at the quality of PSUs and check professional review sources," recommends Mast. "Many PSUs on the market are overrated as they barely give you the power that it is claimed they do. Right now, there are probably more brands on the market than ever, so making the right choice for yourself and for your customers is sometimes difficult. Still, good quality products with low RMA rates cost some money."

It's a point echoed by Moin, who says: "Rather underhandedly, PSUs are labeled as multi +12V rail, but actually don't have the redundancy rail, meaning that it is more likely to fail. With our multi-rail design, for example, our trigger over current or short circuit protection is very fast, and save most system parts. This is something the mislabeled and single rail PSUs can't do."

The Channel Recommends

Enermax Modu82+
Distributor: Realtime
Contact: 01480 435 881
www.realtimeonline.co.uk







Thermatake DH102
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Silverstone TJ10
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Contact: 0870 164 8501
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Antec 300
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Contact: 0870 166 0160
www.







Hiper Osiris
Distributor: Open
Contact: 01908 225 558








Hiper Anubis
Distributor: Open
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Gigabyte Blue Eye
Distributor: KMS Components
Contact: 02920 713 713
www.kmscomponents.com







Gigabyte 3D Mercury
Distributor: KMS Components
Contact: 02920 713 713
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Gigabyte Odin Pro
Distributor: KMS Components
Contact: 02920 713 713
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