Klegg Electronics Plans to Acquire Ximeta's NetDisk Brand

By Pradip Bhatacharya

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

Klegg Electronics, Inc., has signed a master distribution and strategic alliance agreement with Fremont, CA-based Ximeta, Inc. Under terms of the agreement, Klegg will continue serving existing NetDisk customers and also market aggressively to grow the client base of its new division.

 

The NetDisk product line is based on a technology called NDAS, which provides a method of storing data directly on a local area network without the need for a PC. A NetDisk can attach directly to a switch or home router allowing every computer and NDAS-enabled device in an office or home to access data at speeds of up to 10 times faster than that of other network attached storage (NAS) devices.

 

NetDisk products are designed for users who don’t know how to map a drive or possess other, networking-related experience. Installation is as simple as installing software drivers; the NetDisk then appears as a local hard drive on the PC and on other configured network devices.

 

Klegg Media Center TV users will now have the ability to easily and effortlessly save recorded TV, movies, music, and media directly to a Klegg NetDisk on the network.

 

Dennis Gentles, CEO at Klegg, said that his company is thrilled to welcome on board NetDisk family of products. This acquisition is in keeping with Klegg’s vision of seamless integration and convergence of cutting-edge electronic technology into consumer products, computers, and home networks.

 

“The centralizing of data within the home, via wired or wireless technology, to a wide-variety of consumer devices at super high speeds, is key to Klegg's integrated smart home strategy,” said Gentles, in a statement.

 

Han Gyoo Kim CEO at Ximeta, expressed a similar sentiment.

 

“Its Ximeta's mission to bring the best networked storage to homes and workplaces where HD-like multimedia data plays a major role in servicing the needs of users,” Kim said in a statement. “Our alliance with Klegg brings real synergy to both companies: Ximeta will focus on developing cutting-edge NDAS technologies and Klegg will enrich its multimedia CE products by integrating NDAS into their already successful product lines.”

 

One of the additional benefits for Klegg Media Center TV and Klegg NetDisk users is that they will never have to worry about running out of disk space since additional NetDisk drives can continually be aggregated for virtually unlimited storage. Data security is ensured due to the NetDisk’s mirroring and RAID 5 features. Also, several Media Center TVs now will be able to share the same central pool of media, each using the NetDisk as a local resource.

 

Since 2004, Ximeta has been selling the NetDisk product line to customers including Fry’s, Circuit City, Best Buy, and Office Depot. In 2006, the company generated more than $3.5 million in U.S. sales of NetDisk products.

 

Based on current orders that Klegg is now responsible for fulfilling, Klegg expects to generate over $5 million in NetDisk sales by the end of 2007. Klegg also has plans to leverage existing NetDisk vendor relationships to market it Genesis product line.

 

More than representing simply the sale of the NetDisk product line, the agreement represents a major partnership and business alliance between the companies. Klegg will immediately begin to integrate NDAS technology into its existing product line, as well as begin working with Ximeta to introduce new NDAS-enabled products into the market.

 

Though Klegg will be responsible for the sales, marketing and manufacturing of the NetDisk product, the company will continue to purchase the actual NDAS chipset directly from Ximeta.

 

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