Logitech Inc., manufacturer of PC peripherals for the consumer sector, has recently embarked on a new initiative, which, the company says, is predominantly aimed at the business user who wants unadorned, easy to use and robust PC peripherals.

According to research done by IDC, nearly 116 million commercial desktops and notebooks will be installed in Europe during 2005. By the year 2008, this figure could climb to a staggering 169 million units, the company claims.

?With this in mind, and the fact that Logitech has been producing PC peripherals for over twenty years, it only makes sense for us to try and break into the business segment,? says Frank Morley, European sales director at Logitech.

?Our game plan is to provide business users with easy to operate peripherals without all the frills found on some of our consumer devices,? he says. ?For instance, a business user is not interested in having a keyboard or mouse that skips through MP3s or movie clips. The user merely wants a device that does what it says it can do, does not require hours of installation time, and, above all, does not cost too much,? he says.

?Another great impediment we need to overcome is the shelf life of our products. We hope that companies will start purchasing our devices in large quantities, and so do not want the IT manager to return a couple months after his initial purchase, only to find that there is a new model available,? Morley continues.

Logitech is aiming its business products at the government, education and SME sector, and plans to have them available for the local market by the end of March. ?We see a great need out there, and the quicker we can get our products on to the shelf, the quicker we can break into the market,? says Robert van de Vegte, Logitech?s GM for the Benelux and SA regions.

?We are initially planning on launching three keyboard and mouse models to the local market, and, at a later stage, plan to release a wireless mouse running on the 2.4GHz frequency,? he adds.

Unlike Logitech?s distribution scheme for its consumer products, the company says it will distribute its business products through partners such as Rectron (Pty) Ltd. and Pinnacle Micro, not through retailers such as Incredible Connection.