Syntech Hits the Expansion Trail: More Stock, More Support and More Opportunity for Our Partners
Brent Ariefdien2026-10-09T13:05:16+02:00
The South African IT channel is in the middle of one of the toughest supply cycles it has seen in years. Component shortages, rising prices and long lead times are making it harder for resellers to quote with confidence and close deals on time. While much of the market is pulling back, Syntech has been investing in stock, facilities, tools and new brands so that our partners have more to work with, not less.
Our 2026 growth was the focus of the Spotlight on Syntech feature in the August–September 2026 issue of Channelwise. CEO Craig Nowitz, founder Ryan Martyn and regional director Francois Lottering spoke about what we have built this year and why it matters to the resellers we work with. Here are the highlights.
From a spare room to a national footprint
Syntech started 24 years ago in a spare room in Ryan Martyn’s mother’s house in Cape Town. Craig Nowitz invested in the business in 2011 and became CEO, and the company has grown to around 200 people across offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, with an office in Shenzhen and a trademark office in Hong Kong.
Our approach has stayed the same throughout. “Together, we saw an opportunity to build and grow brands as opposed to just maintaining existing behemoth brands,” says Martyn. “That is the DNA of who Syntech has always been, and I believe it lives on today.”
Stock where you need it, when you need it
Syntech was one of the first distributors to warn about the coming chip and memory shortage. We started planning last year and have secured stock of CPUs, GPUs and memory to carry partners through Black Friday and the festive season.
We have also invested in where that stock sits. In 2026 we extended our Cape Town head office, doubling both office and warehouse space, and added a new warehouse in Johannesburg. Our 3 000 square metre regional warehouse in Samrand now ships about 60% of group stock, and new tools help us balance inventory to match what each region needs.
“This is especially important for resellers, who can access stock immediately when they place an order without having to wait days for it to arrive from another warehouse,” Martyn explains.
PCBUiLDER scales up while others scale down
The Cape Town expansion includes a new PCBUiLDER assembly line that can produce up to 3 000 fully customised machines a month. Smart tools are used to build, test and configure each system, and every machine goes through burn testing before it ships.
“At a time when many of the distributors are winding down their production and assembly, we’re scaling ours up,” says Martyn. Because Syntech holds every component used in PCBUiLDER products, partners can quickly spec custom desktops, mini-PCs, all-in-ones, notebooks, gaming rigs and now AI workstations, and get them to market fast.
See it before you sell it
Our range has grown quickly, and keeping up with it can be a challenge. That is why we opened a new 150 square metre showroom in Cape Town. Resellers can see and try the latest products and brands, and bring their own customers in to experience them first-hand.
Support that lasts beyond the warranty
Both our Cape Town and Johannesburg offices now have expanded technical support facilities, warranty centres and out-of-warranty support. In Samrand, a new 1 000 square metre warranty centre houses our technical team, a workshop, after-sales and telephonic support. It will handle all reseller support and warranty services, along with a growing number of out-of-warranty repairs. End users can also walk in for repairs and spares.
This matters more as we move into consumer categories like scooters and robot vacuum cleaners, where customers expect support for the life of the product. It also puts Syntech ahead of the curve. The Competition Commission has published draft guidelines on aftermarket repair services, and our repair centres help keep e-waste out of landfill.
“We believe it’s important for our resellers and consumers to know they can buy any brand that Syntech supplies with confidence that, even after warranty, we’ll be able to help them,” says Martyn.
New brands and new categories to grow into
Finding new product lines, bringing them into South Africa and building the market for them is something we have done many times, with Redragon a good example. Here is what is new:
- Hiksemi: memory products that have helped shield our partners from the global memory shortage.
- DeepCool: PC cases, power supplies and thermal solutions, along with gaming accessories.
- UGREEN: a long-standing Syntech brand that now offers network-attached storage (NAS), a fast-growing category in South Africa.
- Anycubic: a completely new category for Syntech, with 3D printers and a large range of filaments, resins, spare parts and accessories.
“We think the 3D market has big potential in South Africa,” says Nowitz. Anycubic’s consumables also work with other 3D printer brands, which opens up an ongoing revenue stream across the whole market. On the business side, brands such as Acer and ASUS are helping partners grow in the corporate and government sectors alongside our gaming and component lines.
We invest in every brand we bring in. “We would never take on a brand and just leave it there for the resellers to run with,” says Nowitz. “We really invest from a marketing point of view.”
Tools that help resellers scale
Syntech has launched a dedicated developer portal that lets resellers connect to us through an API stack. Partners can integrate our catalogue and inventory with their own websites and use our direct dropshipping service.
“This means resellers don’t have to invest in stock, but can rather focus on servicing and supporting customers while Syntech’s infrastructure handles the backend,” Nowitz explains.
A year of growth in Durban
Our Durban branch celebrated its first birthday this year. Having a full branch and warehouse in the region has brought us closer to our KwaZulu-Natal partners. “After just one year, we are already recognised as a leading player in the KwaZulu-Natal market,” says Lottering.
Why partners choose Syntech
South African resellers have voted Syntech Customer Care Distributor of the Year at the Channelwise Awards for five years running. “I think that we create a platform and a partnership that our resellers can trust,” says Martyn. “So resellers that choose to partner with Syntech have more confidence in the future.”
Grow with Syntech
More stock, more brands, more tools and more support, all built to help our partners grow. Already a partner? Speak to your Syntech account manager. New to Syntech? Become a Syntech reseller today.
Read the full feature: Channelwise, August–September 2026
