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ajor cell phone distributor and retailer PT Erajaya Swasembada (ERAA) is eyeing to expand its brand portfolio to include digital cameras to stay abreast the convergence trend sweeping the device industry.

Erajaya started out as a Nokia cell phone distributor and went on to acquire Samsung and BlackBerry distributor PT Teletama Artha Mandiri (TAM) in 2011. Besides distributorships, the company also runs retail outlets.

Erajaya spokesman Djatmiko Wardoyo said that the company had extended its reach beyond cell phones by retailing cameras such as Canon and Nikon.

'€œWe have engaged with the chief distributors of these camera brands to sell their products at our retail stores,'€ he said.

Djatmiko said that the company had also engaged with at least 10 device accessories distributors'€“ ranging from cell phone cases to headphones '€” to furnish Erafone outlets with these value-adding products.

He added that these new product lines, including tablets, would be featured at a special store carrying the name Erafone Gadget Store.

'€œWe have one such store so far, which will be our pilot project,'€ he said during the store'€™s inauguration on Friday.

He went on to say that although the company'€™s retail revenues were driven by device sales, the company now eyed device accessories as the latter allowed for greater margins.

In the first quarter of 2013, Erajaya earned Rp 2.9 trillion (US$298.7 million) in revenues, 88.6 percent of which came from cell phone and tablet sales.

'€œThe margins from cell phone sales tend to be large at the launch of a product but steadily decline or even hit negative as that particular cell phone floods the market or gets old,'€ he said.

The company also plans to retail higher-end accessories, with prices touching the Rp 1 million zone.

'€œPeople now see accessories as part of their lifestyle because it is considered prestigious to be able to wear Rp 1 million headphones,'€ he said.

Given the potential accessories to be offered, Djatmiko added that the company had set aside more than 50 percent of its new concept store space for these types of products.

Erajaya is not the only sole distributor and retailer to toy with new retail concepts based on developments in the device industry. PT Global Teleshop (GLOB), a distributor and retailer of devices, recently noted that it would soon introduce a fresh store concept that integrated entertainment to draw customers.

Djatmiko added that this year, the company sought to open 70 Erafone outlets and 35 iBox outlets this year. The company currently operates around 399 outlets. '€œHowever, we had to close down some Erafone outlets that did not perform well,'€ he said, adding that most of the outlets that were closed were small-sized stores located in supermarkets and hypermarkets.