Distribution Watch: Avnet, Ingram Micro

Happy Thursday, and thanks for stopping by to check out the latest news from some of the industry’s biggest distributors. Halloween might be just around the corner, but there’s nothing scary about these updates from our friends at Avnet (AVT) and Ingram Micro (IM).

Avnet: This week Avnet released its first-quarter results for fiscal year 2016, with the company reporting a 1.9 percent sales increase year over year and 8.4 percent in constant currency to $6.97 billion. The distributor estimates consolidated sales for Q2 2016 to be between $6.9 and $7.5 billion.

Avnet’s Technology Solutions division also increased sales by 7.8 percent in constant currency, with a reported sales increase of 1.3 percent year over year. Avnet Electronics Marketing grew by 2.2 percent in constant currency year over year, with sales in the Americas showing 4.2 percent growth.

In other Avnet news, the distributor signed an agreement with networking solutions provider Lantronix (LTRX) to sell the company’s IoT-enabling modules and solutions in North and South America. Lantronix’s portfolio will be available through the Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas business division.

Avent hopes the addition of Lantronix will complement Broadcom's technologies, including its Wireless Internet Connectivity for Embedded Devices (WICED) platform, which is already a part of Avnet’s IoT lineup.

"Lantronix has carved out a strong niche in the IoT market—providing robust, secure and easy to deploy solutions that provide OEM manufacturers and designers with the fastest path to production for embedded Wi-Fi," said Alex Luorio, senior vice president of Supplier Management and Business Development for Avnet Electronics Marketing, Americas. "As a strategic distributor of the Broadcom WICED platform, we think Lantronix solutions are a great match for WICED customers seeking to quickly address key issues of security and mobility in IoT and M2M adoption."

Ingram Micro: Ingram Micro has partnered with software-defined storage solutions provider Enmotus to distribute the company’s FuzeDrive Server software in the United States.

The FuzeDrive Server virtualizes solid-state storage with large-capacity storage media to create virtual disks with all-flash performance at less than the price of an equivalent capacity all-flash solution, according to the announcement. A 30-day trial of FuzeDrive Server for Windows and Linux is available through the company’s website.

“Ingram Micro has an outstanding track record of introducing innovative technology to companies around the globe.  Working with Ingram Micro, the industry’s leading distributor of IT technology, enables Enmotus to expand the reach of our FuzeDrive software into new markets,” said Andy Mills, CEO of Enmotus. “We are excited about the new opportunities created by this agreement, and it is a testament to the value of Enmotus’ virtualization technology.”

That’s all for this week, so until next time, we hope your Halloween is full of thrills, chills and lots of candy.