ST. PETERSBURG, FL--(Marketwire - May 27, 2010) - IT sales in the U.S. are now exceeding the peak levels achieved prior to the economic crisis that began in September 2008, according to the Global Technology Distribution Council, an industry association representing the world's leading IT distributors. The organization, whose members generate more than $100 billion in IT product sales annually, also says that market conditions have further stabilized in Europe. GTDC member sales are tracked by independent databases available to subscribers of the NPD Group Distributor Track® in the U.S. and Context SalesWatch in Europe.
"April sales in the U.S. actually came in higher than in April 2007 and 2008 as well as 2009, growing by more than 27% on a year-over-year basis," commented Tim Curran, CEO of the GTDC. "The industry downturn hit Europe three months later than the U.S., and we're now also starting to see year-over-year growth return to various product categories in this region."
The NPD Group Distributor Track and Context SalesWatch databases both point to systems, storage and networking products as leading the sales turnaround in the U.S. and Europe. The NPD database shows desktop and notebook categories up more than 25% in the U.S. from lows reached in the first quarter of 2009. Storage and networking sectors, which each total more than $4 billion in annual U.S. sales, were up 23% and 28%, respectively. "These categories have fully recovered and surpassed peak U.S. sales levels in the fourth quarter of 2007," Curran said, noting that new strengths of the IT distribution industry also include movement into other markets. Consumer-oriented categories, for example, such as flat-panel televisions and video products, including camcorders, grew rapidly over the past year, even when most other categories were declining.
In Europe, the Context database shows sales rebounding in several categories when comparing the second quarter of 2009 -- the bottom of the downturn in Europe -- to the fourth quarter of last year. Computer sales increased 48% during the period, representing one of the largest categories gaining momentum in the region. Storage product sales improved 33% during the period and were up nearly 8% on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter of 2010. Networking product sales grew 13% from the second quarter through the fourth quarter of last year and increased 3% in the first quarter of 2010 compared to the prior year.
For more information on the GTDC and IT industry sales trends, visit http://gtdc.org/research.htm.
ABOUT THE GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY DISTRIBUTION COUNCIL
The Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC) is a worldwide industry association dedicated to defining and promoting the role of wholesale distribution in a successful and healthy information technology channel. The GTDC is comprised of the computer industry's top wholesale distributors dedicated to serving "the channel," a network of skilled value-added resellers and retail stores focused on providing hardware, software, and services to businesses and consumers around the globe. GTDC members include ABC Data, AB SA (
Contact Information:
GTDC MEDIA CONTACTS:
Chuck Miller
727-432-4097
cmiller@commcentricsolutions.com