Ingram Micro, the world's largest distributor, is set to open its doors in South Africa tomorrow (1 June) but, although it's expecting to make waves in the next few weeks, is planning a very low-key start to life. 

The new entity will be headed up by Peter Ibbotson, with Mark Campbell, previously MD of Storgate, as chief operating officer and Craig Turnbull as CSO.
Ingram Micro SA is a joint venture between the international distributor and the MB Technologies group which, with its major shareholding from the Royal Bafokeng Nation, is the country's leading BEE IT distribution group.
The new company was announced earlier this year, to distribute components into the local market.
Campbell says the company will initially consist of the components sections of Storgate, including Imation, Iomega, Seagate and SMC.
He explains that a number of other product lines are in the pipeline and should be announced within the next couple of weeks.
The intention is for Ingram Micro to distribute components that go into system builds and accessories that plug in to systems, he says.
Meanwhile Storgate, the erstwhile storage distributor in the MBTech stable, is planning a major rejuvenation of its own, under new MD Tony Galvao, and is causing some ripples in the market as he snaps up new agencies.
Campbell says the intention is to build Storgate into a broader-based distributor that focuses on a more solutions-orientated product line. To this end it has already signed up Fujitsu Siemens computers and Philips monitors.
The new-look Storgate is expected to relaunch soon under a new name.
Industry rumour has it that the newly-launched Ingram Micro and the new-look Storgate could be merged to form a bigger and broader-reaching Ingram Micro operation, but Campbell says this isn't part of the group's planning.