Acer has credited BDL, the sole distributor of its notebook products in Saudi Arabia, with playing an instrumental role in helping to secure the PC vendor’s No. 1 position in the Saudi notebook market. Recent sales figures show that Acer is now responsible for a third of all sales of notebooks in Saudi Arabia.

“We are pleased to announce these impressive year-end results which confirm Acer as the Kingdom’s most successful notebook vendor. With a population of 23 million people, 40 percent of them under 15, Saudi Arabia is one of our most important markets, with enormous potential for growth. We have no doubt that BDL will help us to achieve even greater success there in the future,” said Krishna Murthy, Acer’s Middle East GM.

For Saudi Arabia in notebooks, this is Acer’s eighth consecutive quarter in the top spot. Notebook sales growth in the Kingdom was at 132.5 percent by the end of Q4 2005. Acer was No. 2 in the Kingdom for 2005 when PC sales of both notebooks and desktops are considered.

Acer is doing well across the Middle East and Africa (MEA). The company remains No. 3 overall in the region. There was some slippage in its MEA notebook sales in 2005 placing it in third position at the end of Q4 2005 as compared to second position in Q4 2004, according to IDC’s EMEA PC Tracker.

In the UAE, where Acer Middle East’s head office is based, the company consolidated its hold on the No. 2 spot overall by posting the largest growth in sales between Q4 2004 and Q4 2005 at 64 percent. Acer also maintained its No. 2 position on notebooks with a 90.4 percent increase in sales over the same period last year.

In Egypt, the Middle East’s most populous market, Acer finished 2005 as No. 3 overall and No. 2 on notebooks. Regionally, the increasingly popular notebook business saw Acer’s sales grow at a rate of 93.4 percent, based on the previous end of year results.

ITEP Expands IT Training Services

Sheikh Mohammed ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum IT Education Project (ITEP) will be extending its IT education and training services to the entire GCC region. ITEP will offer all its training courses tailored to the needs of various groups including students in schools and higher education institutions, teachers, employees, women and people with special needs. The initial focus will be on training programs for employees of government organizations and teachers in the region.

“ITEP was created six years ago as part of the vision of Sheikh Mohammed ibn Rashid Al-Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai, to promote IT literacy in the UAE to help its society and economy face the challenges of the new knowledge-based economy,” said Dr. Abdulla Al-Karam, director of ITEP. “After our success in raising IT literacy among several sectors of society in the UAE, we are looking to provide the same programs across the GCC region.”

ITEP is today the largest IT training provider in the UAE and has trained around 85,000 people since its inception. It provides customized training programs as well as internationally recognized certification courses. ITEP currently has 70 specially-trained IT teachers and 47 custom-built IT classrooms supported by an IT portal. ITEP also has the largest testing center for the International Computer Driving License (ICDL), the global computer literacy certification, in Dubai.

A major component of ITEP’s programs is the training it offers people with special needs. ITEP offers visually impaired students of Tamkeen with IT courses through innovative special-needs technologies. ITEP has also designed Tamkeen’s English and Arabic websites. The site has a version designed specifically for the visually impaired and another for normal users. At present, ITEP is working to develop the world’s first Arabic ICDL curriculum in Braille, which will be available by the end of the year.

SIT Achieves Customer Satisfaction Award

Saudi Information Technology (SIT) has received the Saudi Customer Satisfaction award for the second consecutive year from Cisco Systems. This award recognizes SIT’s consistent and dedicated approach to offering the best customer service possible.

“We are delighted with this award,” said Emad Aoudah Al-Aoudah, GM, SIT. “Our aim is to achieve a reputation for legendary service and satisfaction, creating a win-win relationship with our customers and this award is testament to our commitment.”

Over the past 16 years, SIT successfully participated in number of complex large scale strategic projects in the public and private industries. SIT is proud of the national expertise and skilled manpower it has managed to develop, which is instrumental in helping the company maintain high levels of local customer satisfaction.