As a sponsor of the recent Hi-Tech & Electronics Supply Chain Summit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the BrightPoint EMEA business development team engaged with over 100 executive-level decision makers in the high-tech supply chain arena.

Over the course of 2 days (9-10 May), BrightPoint’s device lifecycle supply chain experts exchanged ideas with delegates who came to the BrightPoint booth, during seminars, and at an event-centered networking dinner. They discussed the current challenges of the high-tech sector and took representatives of a variety of companies through the precise value that BrightPoint’s service portfolio can bring to their business.

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RCR Wireless News recently published Allie Winter’s Feature Report detailing the evolving challenges facing supply chain management within the wireless industry, featuring interviews with BrightPoint’s own Mark Howell (President, BrightPoint Americas) and Blake Vaughn (Director, Reverse Logistics for BrightPoint North America). The report is an interesting look at how the wireless supply chain is shifting, and the innovative approaches that are in use to meet the needs of the operators and manufacturers impacted by these changes.  The report examines how Device Lifecycle Services can be leveraged by Operators to lower their subsidy load on new devices being introduced to the market, as well as Recover strategies that are being employed to control costs on returned and redeployed devices.

The report is free, but registration is required to download.  You can access the registration page here -

http://content.rcrwireless.com/DeviceEvolutionSpurssupplymanagement

In today’s wireless ecosystem, manufacturers and their distribution partners have become adept at getting the latest devices from their design houses and manufacturing facilities to points of sale with incredible efficiency – a process that BrightPoint has been a leader in since our inception.  However, the aftermarket services process, which can include return, triage, repair, refurbish, recycle, and remarket – what we at BrightPoint call Recover, has faced more challenges in achieving these same levels of efficiency.  As the average cost of a device has risen – and the investment made in that device by both a network operator and a wireless consumer has also risen, the need to optimize the Recover process has become ever more acute.

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Despite a relatively recent entry to the mobile market, Microsoft certainly hasn’t been slow about making news with the platform of late.  Just days after the launch of the first Windows Phone device running off of the speedy 4G LTE networks in North America (the Nokia Lumia 900), Microsoft and BrightPoint announced the launch of the Waha Store in the United Arab Emirates.  The Waha Store (Waha means “Oasis” in English) not only offers shoppers a single point for handset comparisons but its visual interface mirrors that of Microsoft’s dynamic Windows Phone itself, offering users an integrated experience across platforms.  Additionally, network operator integration will allow users their choice of networks to use their handset on.

As more devices are launched in the UAE, the Waha catalog will grow and Waha itself is poised to expand as both BrightPoint and Microsoft look to grow the Windows Phone platform across the Middle East and Africa.  The full press release announcing the Waha Store launch can be found here.