Specialist memory distributor Simms has expanded its rapidly growing vendor stable further by signing a UK partnership with Patriot.

The deal, which will see Simms supply the full range of Patriot’s flash, USB, high-capacity and solid state drives, came into effect last week. Patriot also partners with Enta and Target Components in the UK.
Alex Tatham, managing director of Simms, said the partnership was one of many the distributor has lined up for 2008.

“We have a lot of exciting news coming up in 2008 with regards to vendor signings and growth,” he said.
“Patriot is in the top 10 memory suppliers and has a whole range of products that Kingston does not have.”

Tatham said the distributor will be targeting a number of resellers on behalf of Patriot, particularly those that specialise in high-capacity products and Apple resellers.

“Patriot also has all of the Alienware [high-end gaming] business on an OEM basis and this gives it real credibility with the gaming community,” Tatham added. “It will be great to carry its lines, particularly when there is a supply shortage from other vendors.”

Jennifer Petersen, senior European sales manager at Patriot, said: “As Patriot is starting to expand brand awareness across Europe, we are looking for partners in each country.

“Simms is a strong partner for us to raise awareness of our brand in the UK market as it has some well-stablished customers. We have products we can offer its customers that perhaps it has not been able to offer them before. We will also help Simms to get into new channels.”

She added that the firm was not planning any more distribution partnerships in the UK.

“Right now with three, assuming that we achieve the market share we are expecting in the UK, we do not intend to sign any more distribution partners at the moment.”