IT Distribution Revenues Continued to Decline in Q1 as Personal Computing Spending Stabilized, According to the IDC North America Distribution Tracker, Powered by GTDC

IT distributor revenue experienced a year-on-year decline of 5.5% to $17.85 billion in the first quarter of 2024, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) North America Distribution Tracker (NADT). The market continued to rebalance following pandemic disruptions as enterprise hardware spending was pulled down by a decline in Network Infrastructure and consumer devices revenues were down 9% despite growth in Traditional PCs.

"The market continues to face a variety of headwinds including cautious buyers, attention shifting to AI and security, and difficult comparisons to prior years," said Ruth Flynn, research vice president, IDC Tracker & Data Products. "Nevertheless, passing challenges for PCs and Network Infrastructure as well as prospects for a stronger economy set the stage for growth later in the year and into 2025."

Software and Services remained the largest categories, growing 4.6% and 1.2% year-over-year respectively with software recovering from a 2% year-over-year decline in Q4 2023. Application spending remained down while infrastructure software drove growth. Spending on support services remained weak continuing the trend seen in 2023.

Network Infrastructure continued its transition back to normal levels after satisfying a 2023 backlog in demand. Revenue was down 18% year on year to $1.85 billion in the first quarter, following growth averaging over 24% year on year between Q4 2022 and Q3 2023 with a peak in growth of over 42% in Q2 2023.

Personal Computing leveled out at $3.2 billion with a year-on-year decline of 2.5%. Traditional PCs (desktops, notebooks, and workstations) led the category with slightly positive year-on-year growth while other products, including Tablets, Point of Sale Systems, and Thin Clients, continued to decline. The PC market is expecting a refresh cycle to begin later this year as users anticipate the end of support for Windows 10 in October 2025. Anticipated updates to Apple's iPad line are also expected to boost the Tablet market going forward.

A graphic illustrating North America distribution revenue for five categories (Software, Services, Personal Computing, Network Infrastructure, Audio/Video, and Other) over the previous five quarters is available by viewing this press release on IDC.com.

IDC's North America Weekly Distribution Tracker and North America Monthly Distribution Tracker are built on the exclusive partnership between IDC and the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) and provide the industry's most comprehensive view of technology distribution data and market trends in the U.S. and Canada. The data in this Tracker is actual sales data collected weekly from sales receipts across the largest distributors in North America for more than 1,700 brands over several years. This data is mapped to IDC's taxonomy with nearly 200 categories organized into 14 distinct product groups with detailed product attributes across categories.

About IDC Trackers 
IDC Tracker products provide accurate and timely market size and segmentation, vendor share, and forecasts for hundreds of technology markets from more than 100 countries around the globe. Using proprietary tools and research processes, IDC's Trackers are updated on a semiannual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly basis. Tracker results are delivered to clients in user-friendly Excel deliverables and on-line query tools.

For more information about the North America Distribution Tracker, powered by GTDC, please contact Ruth Flynn at [email protected].

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About IDC 
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,300 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology, IT benchmarking and sourcing, and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading tech media, data, and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC and LinkedIn. Subscribe to the IDC Blog for industry news and insights.

About the GTDC 
The Global Technology Distribution Council is the industry consortium representing the world's leading tech distributors. GTDC members drive an estimated $150 billion in annual worldwide sales of products, services, and solutions through diverse business channels. GTDC conferences support the development and expansion of strategic supply-chain partnerships that continually address the fast-changing marketplace needs of vendors, end customers and distributors.

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