Founded in June 1995 as a spin-off of Micro-D International, an industry leader in information and communications technology, Microwarehouse (MWH) was aimed at focusing on the expansion of distribution channels toward the local digital market, with 3Com networking products, Quantum hard disks, and Wyse dumb terminals as its initial offerings to the digital market. With only a workforce of 12 at its original Pasig City locus, the company steadily expanded and grew in the next few years, acquiring such coveted brand names as Palm (1998), Linksys (1999), and Apple (2003).

Its strategic alliances with these brands were to prove a significant contributory factor to the company’s continual progress and evolution. 3Com, for instance, has been one of the key players in the Philippine networking market since the mid-90s — and proving to be a robust 3Com partner by building a strong and loyal base of resellers nationwide, Microwarehouse was eventually honored with the exclusive distributorship of 3Com in 1999.

Meanwhile, the dissemination of Palm personal digital assistants (PDAs) in 1998 brought us into the then-emergent arena of digital lifestyle enthusiasts, which in turn effectively paved the way for us to enhance our mutually advantageous partnerships with a national grid of retail outlets. A year later, in 1999, we spearheaded the trend toward home networking by distributing Linksys products — even prior to its acquisition by renowned industry giant Cisco — proving our company’s superlative foresight.

But it was Microwarehouse’s successful introduction of the revolutionary Apple iPod in 2003 that successfully cemented its reputation of being able to recognize a brilliant, exceptional product, then market it extensively and aggressively – and this has resulted in the unprecedented popularity of Apple in the country.

Other brand acquisitions followed in the next few years:

Hewlett-Packard (2004) — Microwarehouse was awarded exclusive distributorship of the HP iPAQ line of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and its array of other hand-held devices, further widening the spectrum of our digital product offerings.

Apple Mac (2005) — The first computer and line of computing products offered by Microwarehouse, and the only one up to today, the Macintosh steadily gained national popularity, in both the personal user and business application arenas, due to our effectively assertive marketing stance.

Cisco (2006) — Having offered Linksys products since 1999, Microwarehouse’s broadening market now began distributorship of Cisco, the company that acquired Linksys in 2003, completing the gamut of our network offerings, from simple home networking to powerful systems for small- and medium-sized businesses up to very large enterprises.

Belkin (2006) — Our resounding success from the introduction of the iPod opened doors to other world-class brands, starting with the exclusive distributorship of Belkin, the number one name in the country for iPod accessories; later on, Belkin expanded its offerings through our company to include network and mobility products. iHome (2006) — The chief name in the U.S. when it comes to iPod speakers, another niche industry has been afforded to us by iHome in terms of its diverse line of multimedia products. Klipsch (2007) — Last year, a new segment in Microwarehouse’s product expansion was inaugurated by our acquisition of Klipsch, the globally renowned name in audio, with our marketing and distribution efforts later expanding to include the famous brand’s multimedia and ceiling speakers. Philips (2007) — To augment our digital lifestyle offerings, last year we also started to market and distribute Philips’ line-up of MP3 solutions, providing high-valued, competitively priced products catering to the non-iPod market.