IT Product Revenue Hits a Record High, Boosted by Distribution

Total IT product revenue sold in 2021 reached a new peak of more than $70 billion. That’s according to the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC).

Nearly 90% of that revenue went through tech distributors in North America.

Revenue growth for these top-tier (tier 1) distributors was up 7.2% year over year in 2021. This followed slower growth (2%) in 2020 – hampered by the pandemic – and 5% in 2019. These results were reported in the first version of the North America Weekly Distribution Tracker from International Data Corporation (IDC).

The Tracker

IDC’s Ruth Flynn

Ruth Flynn is director of operations for IDC’s data and analytics team.

“The frequency, depth and precision of data in this tracker is an invaluable resource for any company competing in these markets,” Flynn said. “As we continue to navigate changing business dynamics through the pandemic, this tracker provides essential data about which products and companies are growing. It enables IT companies and their category manager and channel teams to respond rapidly to the competitive landscape.”

On a monthly basis, April, May, and June 2021 saw the largest year-over-year growth, respectively. In other words, the market rebounded from the initial disruption from COVID-19. August-December 2021 continued the recovery with strong gains on top of already strong 2020 revenues. Subsequently, December 2021 revenues were the highest on record for a single month, at almost $7.5 billion. This was followed by December 2020 at $7.1 billion, December 2018 at $6.5 billion, and October 2021 at almost $6.5 billion.

Sales Data

Personal computing had the largest share of revenue, with 24% in 2021. Gains in notebooks and workstations spurred 12% growth in each of the past three years.  However, there were other products with substantial growth in 2021. They include video capture devices, and consumer electronics, led by mobile phones. Similarly, components, such as graphics and other expansion cards, also made gains. In addition, PC monitors and consumer displays were on the list.

IDC’s North America Weekly Distribution Tracker collects data weekly from sales receipts across large distributors in North America over several years. It includes more than 1,700 brands. This data broken down into nearly 200 categories organized into 14 distinct product groups. It also has detailed product attributes across categories.