Altech enters voluntary administration

Altech Computers has gone into voluntary administration in Australia following cash flow problems.

Administrators were appointed for the business late last week.

The company's demise follows wide-spread speculation over the years, with the company reported to have cut staff in 2013 as it grappled with increasing costs and industry changes.

The New Zealand arm of the business is also believed to be affected.

Staff answering phones in the Sydney and Auckland offices today declined to answer questions and the company has not returned calls.

A creditors meeting is due to be held in Sydney this week.

The company, which was established in 1997, has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Auckland and Hong Kong and claims on its website to be one of Australasia's fastest growing IT distribution companies. It claims to have more than 6000 customers across Australia, with a product portfolio of more than 800 products supplied to a nationwide network of resellers and premium retailers.

As well as distributing offerings from other vendors, Altech assembled its own brands, Maestro, NRG and ICU. The company's vendor portfolio included AOC, Asus, Corsair, Dell, Genius, Hitachi, Kaspersky, Razer and Vantec.

Recent years have seen the company lose several high profile vendors including Microsoft and Samsung.

Earlier this Corsair added Synnex and Leader Computers as Australian distributors alongside Altech, signalling the end of a long-standing exclusive distribution agreement with Altech.

In the early 2000s the company scooped up a number of awards including Ernst - Young 2006 Entrepreneurs of the Year and Microsoft's 2008 Australian Distribution Partner of the Year.

In 2004 it was ranked sixth on BRW Magazine's Fast 100 list, and featured again in 2006.