NOD posts EUR 200 mln turnover in 2013, enters smartphone market

Network One Distribution (NOD) has announced its arrival on the smartphone market with the launch of two devices – the Serioux Symbiosis X4 phablet and the Serioux Whisper X2 smartphone – which will sell at the recommended prices of RON 999 and RON 699, respectively.

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The two new models will hit the shelves of Romanian retailers soon.

By yearend, NOD plans to launch eight other smartphone models. In total, the company expects to have sold 100,000 smartphones by yearend, planning to reach a 5 percent share on the smartphone market.

“To reach 100,000 units, you have to fulfill various needs of consumers and touch different price ranges, which is why our next smartphones will go below the RON 699 and above the RON 1,400 price points,” said Oana Barbu, commercial manager at NOD.

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NOD also sells tablets under the Serioux brand. While last year, tablet sales numbered 110,000 units, this year NOD is aiming for the top position on the market.

In 2013, products sold under the Serioux brand brought the firm sales of EUR 11 million. In 2014, the company estimates the brand will generate total sales of EUR 20 million.

“This year, we are consolidating the Serioux position on the Romanian market by developing the tablet range, which is our main priority, but also by launching the first phablet and smartphone in our portfolio,” says Barbu.

NOD officials estimate total tablet sales in Romania reached approximately 600,000 units in 2013.

“After increasing threefold last year, we estimate that tablet sales will amount to 1 million units in 2014, representing more than 80 percent growth compared to 2013. Given this and taking into account the number of units already sold locally and the outlook for this year, we estimate that one in ten Romanians will own a tablet at the end of 2014,” said Barbu.

NOD estimates that total smartphone sales in Romania will also spike by 30 percent this year to 2 million units.

“While we do not yet have the final indicators, we estimate the total turnover of NOD in 2013 was approximately EUR 200 million,” said Barbu. NOD brands represented approximately 15 percent of the company’s turnover.

NOD is fully owned by Iulian Stanciu, and is both a distributor of electro-IT products and launches products under its own brands: Serioux, Horizon and HEINNER.

The company has operations in Romania and the Republic of Moldova via 3,000 partners and is a supplier to major local retail networks.

“Sales abroad are not yet very high and the results of our brands are mainly based on sales in Romania. We have focused mainly on developing the products and not on going abroad too much,” said Barbu.

The range of products in the NOD portfolio includes the following brands: Allied Telesys, A4tech, Acer, AMD, APC, Arctic, Asrock, Asus, Barkan, Belkin, Beko, BenQ, BitDefender, Canon, CoolerMaster, Dell, Delux, D-Link, Eizo, Epson, Gorenje, Garmin, Genius, Gigabyte, Hansa, HEINNER, Horizon, HP, HTC, Kaspersky, Kingston, Kingmax, LaCie, Lenovo, Lexmark, LG, Maxell, Microsoft, Mio, MSI, Palit, Philips, PNY, Razer, Samsung, Sapphire, Schneider Electric, Seagate, Serioux, Sony, Sony PlayStation, Spire, Techus, Thrustmaster, TP-Link, V-Mark, Verbatim, Xerox, Western Digital and Zelmer.

Otilia Haraga

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