Independent Apple resellers Digicape and Project 3 last week announced their plans to merge and form a single, premium provider of Apple products to the South African market.
Digicape itself is the product of a merger that took place back in 2001, when two small Apple resellers teamed up to take on the market. Digicape director, Robin Olivier, says, “œWe see the merger with Project 3 as being a natural progression of the strategy, but now rather than just looking for scale, we are looking to benefit from the significant combined strengths of each business to create an unsurpassed Apple experience for our customers.“
Although Digicape and Project 3 compete in a number of markets, each has its own particular strengths: Digicape dominates in the tertiary education, photographic and visual markets, while Project 3 is stronger in the primary and secondary education sector, and has captured a large share of the audio and video market.
Alan Goldberg, director at Project 3 says, “œBy pooling our resources we can ensure that all our customers get exactly what they need, with additional services readily on tap. We can offer a total package of market insight, basic to advanced training, excellent customer service and a depth of technical expertise through our Apple service centres.“
It seems that integration will take place slowly rather than suddenly. Olivier says that they plan to ensure that no-one – whether staff member, supplier or customer – is left behind in the process.
During the first phase of the merger the two companies will work together at a management level to find ways to play to the strengths of each business. So for instance, if you buy a product from the Digicape store you might be offered training at Project 3, while if you‘re searching for a product on the Project 3 website you may be pointed to Digicape‘s online store instead.
Digicape has stores in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, while Project 3 is based exclusively in Cape Town.
