Total IT product revenue reported by members of the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) approached $18.9 billion in the first quarter of 2022 (1Q22). The increase of 13.1% from a year ago was up significantly from 7.9% growth in all of 2021.
The total was also the third highest overall behind only the fourth quarters of 2020 and 2021 as reported in the North America Weekly Distribution Tracker from the International Data Corporation (IDC).
Despite the upward trend for the quarter, growth slowed from almost 18.9% in January to 8.1 in March, although each month still bested the 2021 growth rate, and the last week of March was the largest on record. AV, Security, and Consumer Electronics products led growth, each increasing more than 24% from the prior year. Imaging, Peripherals & Accessories, and Personal Computing were the slowest categories in 1Q22, growing in single digits from the prior year with growth slowing from pandemic recovery highs. Other categories all grew in double digits for the quarter.
“Despite continuing logistics, economic and political headwinds, as well as more difficult comparisons to last year, North American IT sales through tier 1 distribution remained strong in the first quarter,” said Ruth Flynn, director of operations, IDC Tracker & Data Products. “Throughout the pandemic consumers and businesses have been reminded of the value of tech investments and continue to prioritize IT purchases.”
On the hardware side, Lenovo moved into the top spot in 2022Q1 with close to 5% year-over-year growth, which was driven by Desktops, Workstations, Input/Output Devices, and PC Monitors. HP Inc. held the number 2 position despite a 6% year-over-year decline as a result of strong growth in Desktops, Workstations, PC Monitors, and Toner sales. And Cisco achieved 19% year-over-year growth for hardware sales driven by Ethernet Switches and this success on the hardware side lead to strong growth for the associated embedded software at 51% year over year.
In the software space, Autodesk had strong sales of their Engineering Applications software that lead to their overall 38% year-over-year growth. Palo Alto Networks as a leader in the Security Software space also had a strong quarter with 68% year-over-year growth. And IBM maintained its substantial share of overall software sales across a wide portfolio of markets, posting another quarter of positive year-over-year growth of 5%.
A graphic illustrating North American revenue for the top 5 product groups in tier 1 distribution over the previous nine quarters is available by viewing this press release on IDC.com.
IDC’s North America Weekly Distribution Tracker is built on the exclusive partnership between IDC and the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) and provides 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.
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 1,200 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.
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.
