Maverick signs SHARP

Maverick Presentation Products has signed a distribution agreement with Sharp Electronics for the company's leading range of large-format LCD displays and its high quality AQUOS family of flat-screen televisions.

The availability of Sharp's Information Display Panel (IDP) series of LCD large-format displays gives the wider audiovisual and B2B reseller community full access to the range for the first time. It enables them to take advantage of Maverick's expertise in the audiovisual market and business development capabilities and also benefit from the unrivalled stock-holding, delivery and credit services that - as part of the Tech Data group - only Maverick can offer amongst specialist audiovisual distributors in the UK.

Displays in the Sharp IDP family come in a range of sizes from 46-inches up to 65-inches, and provide an impressive combination of quality, functionality and reliability. They are designed for 24/7 operation to be used in portrait as well as landscape mode, making them ideal for advertising and public display applications. Detachable bezels make them easy to adapt for flush fitting' installations and they also come with a unique three-year on-site warranty with a six working hour response target. Sharp's AQUOS series of slim-line LCD televisions is already established as one of the premium brands in the market and the full range - from the elegant 19-inch HD-ready models with built-in Freeview, up to the flagship 52-inch XL2 with its 100Hz double-frame drive and full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution panel - will be available to retailers from Maverick with immediate effect.

Jon Sidwick, Director of Maverick, says that the Sharp range is an important addition to the Maverick portfolio and one which presents a good opportunity for audiovisual resellers. "Sharp displays are renowned for their quality and good looks and with the unique warranty on the commercial range, also provide customers with guaranteed value and return on investment. This agreement will make this impressive range of high-end displays more accessible and available to many more audiovisual and B2B resellers, giving them the opportunity to give customers even more choice and drive more business in the growing digital signage market." Commenting on behalf of Sharp, Commercial AV Sales Manager, Helen Sheldrake states: "We are delighted to have formed this agreement with Maverick, which will give many more audiovisual specialists, IT systems integrators and retailers access to the full range of Sharp display products. The growth in digital signage and public display applications is a major opportunity and we will be working with Maverick to help resellers drive sales in these key growth segments of the market."

Maverick is working with other specialist business units within the Tech Data group to broaden the scope and reach of audiovisual solutions and open up new areas of growth potential for resellers. It recently completed a successful training course that enabled audiovisual resellers to increase their knowledge of networking technology and is planning to run further programmes to help networking resellers attain the knowledge and skills required to sell, install and support specialist digital signage equipment. Sidwick states: "By making use of the skills that we have within the collection of specialist business divisions that we have within the Computer 2000 UK operation, Maverick has a unique capability and opportunity to bring new ideas and new opportunities both to audiovisual and B2B resellers and help them to diversify and develop new business in growth markets."