ALE, operating under the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise brand, announced that the company will not raise prices on enterprise networking products and services before 2019.
It is believed that some of the technology vendors have increased the retail price of their networking products recently.
ALE said it will protect its customers and channel partners from the cost implications brought on by the trade war between the US and China.
As compared with technology companies such as Cisco, Dell EMC, Huawei, Oracle, Google, IBM, Microsoft, among others, ALE is a small company in the global enterprise networking market.
“Whether it is shifts in the market, the introduction of new technologies or broader economic factors like tariffs on U.S. imports, ALE puts a premium on the needs of our partners and we base decisions on how best to navigate change together,” said Stephan Robineau, executive vice president for the ALE Network Business Division.
The US has imposed import tax on goods made in China, including some networking components built into ALE products. The administration has indicated plans to increase the current 10 percent tariff to 25 percent in January 2019.
Many vendors have passed the cost to channel partners and customers by increasing prices. ALE will absorb the current 10 percent increase and give partners the opportunity to place orders before a potential need to adjust pricing in the new year.
“Most of our U.S. customers locked in 2018 budgets long ago and are in planning cycles for next year,” Robineau said.
ALE has stated that any price increase in 2019 will be communicated at least three months in advance, to allow partners and customers time to prepare.
ALE provides enterprise networking, communications and services to 830,000 customers worldwide. ALE has more than 2200 employees and 2900+ partners who serve over 50 countries.
