Corporate backgrounder
Belkin is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of peripherals
and connectivity solutions for computer and consumer electronics
users. The company’s product ranges include:
-
USB 1.0 and USB 2.0 hubs, PCI cards and devices
- FireWire hubs and PCI cards
- LAN and wireless peripheral sharing devices and cables
- Networking hardware and accessories
- Bluetooth cards and adapters
- Gaming devices
- Power protection products, including UPS and surge protectors
- KVM (Keyboard, Video and Mouse) switches
- Cellular and PDA accessories
- PC, Mac and notebook accessories
- Computer and audio-visual cables
Company history
Founded in 1982 by three employees in a residential garage, Belkin
now employs more than 1200 people in offices throughout North America,
Europe and Australasia. During its 20 years of existence, Belkin
has enjoyed continuous growth. For the financial year ending 2002
its gross sales exceeded USD 530 million worldwide, with European
sales of over USD 85 million.
Belkin is headquartered in Compton, California and established its
first European operations in the UK in 1996, now located in Northampton,
England. Since then, the company has experienced rapid growth and
has established its European sales and marketing headquarters in
Amsterdam, the Netherlands with additional sales and marketing offices
in Munich, Germany.
Product development
Belkin invests heavily in research and development. During the past
three years, it has expanded its engineering expertise to further
strengthen its capabilities in USB
and peripheral-sharing product lines. Belkin’s New York-based
engineering team works closely with the Industrial Design Group,
a dedicated product design team based in Hollywood, to create the
innovative yet functional products that continue to set Belkin apart
from its competitors.
Sales and distribution
Belkin’s products are sold through distributors, mail order,
retailers and OEM accounts. The company operates an end-to-end reseller
support programme, as well as specific in-store training for retailers.
Belkin is also the industry leader in business-to-business e-commerce
integration, having consistently been at the forefront of the movement
toward online integration with our resellers.
In recognition of its success in this area, Belkin has won a record
number of awards from 1998 to 2003 at RetailVision, the leading IT
retail channel event organised by Gartner. These have included Best
European Vendor, Best Retail Strategy and Best Merchandising.
Belkin has established a number of strategic partnerships with distributors
and retailers throughout Europe and continues to follow an aggressive
recruitment strategy. In addition, Belkin has relationships with
distributors worldwide.
Customer support
Belkin provides complete pre-sales and post-sales support for its
customers across all product lines through a comprehensive, multilingual
technical support service. In addition, all product packaging and
supporting documentation is provided in the language of all countries
in which its products are sold, a strategy which has been key to
the company’s success in the European market.
Quality
Belkin's state-of-the-art 20,000 m2 European Headquarters and Distribution
Centre enforces the strictest of quality standards in the industry.
Belkin operate an advanced management system in compliance with
BS EN ISO 9001:2000, conducting daily evaluations and quality control,
ensuring the highest level of operation and service from product
design and manufacture, to customer delivery and after-sales service
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