Molouk Y. Ba-Isa Saudi Gazette Linksys is not a Cisco product. Back in March, Belkin completed its acquisition of Linksys. In the Saudi market there weren't great cheers on the deal. Linksys used to be owned by Cisco, which is a prominent brand in the Kingdom. Belkin is a mystery in Saudi Arabia.
Then recently a request from Belkin's public relations representative in Dubai landed in my inbox: “When a well-known brand like Linksys is bought by what is perceived in the region as a lesser known one like Belkin, you would expect various challenges for the channel, for consumers, as well as for small enterprises – but what are they? How is such a major global acquisition handled here in the Middle East and what are the direct effects? Patrick Hayati, Managing Director at Belkin MEA is very approachable and would love to discuss this with you.” Wow! An international consumer electronics vendor that would like to indulge in a bit of honesty. How refreshing! So I agreed to the interview. I was asked for my questions. Here they are: 1. How will Linksys products be supported in Saudi Arabia? 2. What will happen to Linksys resellers and partners in the Kingdom? 3. Belkin as a brand isn't well recognized or thought of compared to Linksys. Will there be a change in strategy to improve the Belkin brand positioning and how will Linksys be branded – Linksys by Belkin? 4. Linksys is popular not only with consumers but also with small offices. Is there a strategy to offer small businesses better support or more robust products? 5. Does Belkin have any plan to raise awareness among Saudi consumers about home networks? 6. Will Belkin be working with telcos or ISPs to capture more of the Saudi router market? 7. Product availability has been messy in Saudi Arabia. Stock comes in late or never, or there's not enough. Saudis are tired of feeling second best, especially to the UAE. What is being done to solve these issues? The questions were sent off to the Belkin's public relations firm and ten days later the response came back: “Unfortunately, we have to pass on this opportunity. We apologize for the inconvenience.” Not one question answered.
I went around to the computer retailers at Dossary Towers to take a look at the Linksys products and see what the resellers knew about the situation. All the boxes on sale were still marked “Linksys by Cisco.” When I asked the sales staff about the Linksys products and whether they were still made by Cisco the answer came back, “Yes.” When I pushed a little harder the salesman replied, “Yes, we heard it's been bought by Belkin, but no one knows Belkin so it doesn't matter.” In another shop, the salesman knew about sale of Linksys and had this advice, “If you're worried about Linksys support then buy a Netgear or TP-Link router or get a modem from Thompson, Netgear or Buffalo.” Based on the lack of response from the Belkin team in Dubai, that's good advice to consider.
