Today Phil at Techs for Techs spoke to Magnus Huber, CEO of ARCTIC GmbH, about who they are, how they got started and what they stand for.
Tell us about ARCTIC’s history and how it started...
During my time at university, I owned and operated a business where I built PCs and installed networks. A lot of my customers suffered from cooling and noise issues, and I realized that they would be willing to pay for quality cooling that could be done in a quieter way. After graduating, I put the PC business aside and worked from 2001 until 2002 as a civil engineer in Zurich. Still, the issue of loud cooling stayed on my mind, and in summer 2001 I found a solution to the problem and built the first prototypes. At the end of the year, I started ARCTIC Cooling GmbH. This way I would be able to help not only my former PC customers, but all PC users looking for an affordable, quiet cooling solution.
From those beginnings, ARCTIC’s philosophy has remained unchanged – we offer consumers value for their money and provide innovative, user-friendly, high quality products. Besides cooling, we also focus on other aspects of workplace ergonomics, we already do this with the development of monitor mounts but would like to continue to develop, design and manufacture these products.
What products and services do you offer?
ARCTIC products fall into three categories: COOLING, which includes things like CPU coolers, GPU Coolers, case fans, and thermal compound/pads; MOUNTS, where you’ll find our monitor arms, wall mounts and extension kits; and ACCESSORIES, including USB fans, PST cables and more.
This year you´ve launched your thermal paste MX-5. Does this product promise the same quality- performance as MX-2 and MX-4 did?
Our MX-4 and MX-2 thermal pastes are some of our most beloved products. Their success comes down to our central promise: easy to use, high value products at fair prices. With MX-5 we go a step further. By lowering the viscosity, the application (one drop in the middle of the CPU) is improved by allowing better self-spreading at lower pressure. On top, we could lower the thermal resistance at low- and high-pressure applications. By being non-conductive, non-capacitive and non-corrosive, MX-5 is as safe to use as MX-2 and MX-4.
What about your “Lucky Draw”- sweepstake?
In 2019 we celebrated the sale of our one millionth unit of MX thermal paste. From then on, every month, we are giving purchasers of MX- 2, MX- 4 and now MX-5, in more than 24 countries around the world, a chance to win 1,000 USD.
We have the best and most loyal customers in the world. For this reason, we want to give something back and thank the MX users for turning our thermal compound into such a success. More info about Lucky Draw can be found here: https://lucky-mx.arctic.ac/
What makes your products different?
At ARCTIC, we take a lot of pride in providing the best possible products at prices that are accessible for everyone. For us, value for money is a key factor — it’s what we’re known for, and it’s a constant that our customers rely on. We see a product not as a short-term object, but as a benefit for years. Warranty and service are key in this regard. If a product does not work out as expected, our support team (support@arctic.de) will not rest until our customer is fully satisfied.
What is your brand/company culture?
Well, our brand culture is multifaceted like our International Team. We prioritize making employees from all walks of life feel welcome. We are a team of talented and diverse people from all over the world. We value and celebrate individualities and give everyone the feeling of having a voice in the company. We are flexible and emphasise the importance of work-life- fit and offer our employers flexible scheduling- we don´t have 8 to 4 but flex hours.
Team Spirit & Employee engagement- We are not hierarchical but team – oriented. Our employers are excited, they spread positive energy and are motivated to do great work and move the business forward. We are innovative and transparent- we love creating ideas, we learn, grow, and succeed this way.
Does ARCTIC think sustainably?
Our company takes the careful use of energy and environmental resources very seriously. We think “green” and have been carbon neutral since 2011. Our designers create product packaging, designed to minimise CO² emissions. We have dispensed with printed operating manuals since 2018 and instead have made them available online in several languages. Also, we support various sustainability projects around the world, like Co- firing Project Thailand, Micro Hydroplant Indonesia, Wastewater Treatment Thailand or Hydro and Wind Power China.
More about our sustainable engagement can be found: https://www.arctic.de/en/navigation/7d0e1e48d127434c8c48997ea857788a
What are your future plans?
The past year has been a year full of challenges. But we have shown once again that we are able to manage crises very well and not only that we´ve grown up with the crisis.
Part of this growth is our new Digital Commerce Team in Germany. The creation of the Digital Commerce team has strategically repositioned our company on an international level. This has reinforced our commitment to serve proactively other key target markets.
As always, we are constantly optimizing our core products as well as creating new products to meet customer needs. I want to mention here the introduction of the giant Liquid Freezer ll 420, our first A-RGB fan and our thermal paste MX- 5.
Going forward, we are focussing on increasing awareness of the ARCTIC brand, a key part of which is maintaining strong relationships with our distributors. We host an annual Distributor’s Meeting to ensure we are supporting the unique needs of our distributors and the markets they serve.
What distributors in the UK are your goods available at?
Spire Technology https://www.spire.co.uk/
QBS: https://www.qbssoftware.com/
If someone want to contact you regarding Marketing inquiries, who would they contact?
They can contact Jonas Kawa (Jonas.kawa@arctic.de) ARCTIC’s Marketing Lead, for any assistance regarding marketing materials. Jonas and his team are at your disposal.
If someone is having an issue, and the distributor could not help how would they contact you?
Our in-house RMA service offers immediate and fast help. We offer direct technical support, product repair or exchange - no matter where you purchased the product from. Also, if someone is experiencing problems or is unclear about the product, he can contact our support team at support@arctic.de or create a support ticket at support.arctic.de. I am pretty sure that our service team will be happy to answer questions about products, compatibility, technical problems, or other issues.
Magnus Huber
CEO of ARCTIC GmbH
