The latest data from channel research outfit IT Europa claims that the top 500 European distributors generated combined sales up just over 20% year-on-year in 2011 at US$153.2 billion. IT Europa reckons that the top 500 distributors proved resilient in the face of recessionary pressures.
IT Europa claimed: “Overall, smaller independent distributors outperformed the major groups with growth of 25.7% compared with 10.2% for parent companies and 16.2% for subsidiaries.”
IT Europa’s database report, which provides profiles of each of the top 500 European Distributors, showed that two-tier distribution was standing up well to the economic pressures and challenges posed by direct internet sales. Across Europe, the only national market that saw a decline in distributor sales was Greece, which fell 1.6%, according to the IT Europa data.
In Germany, 55 distributors covered in IT Europa’s top 500 recorded sales of US$30 billion in 2011, while 51 companies profiled in the UK posted combined sales of US$18.1 billion in 2011.
Alan Norman, managing director at IT Europa, said: “This is a complex market and behind the figures we are seeing several factors at play. Consolidation is certainly a factor with several acquisitions being made by larger companies and a number of smaller ones going out of business.”
“We are also seeing a good deal of diversification, as distributors expand their product portfolios to take advantage of new growth markets and technologies such as digital signage, tablets and smartphones," he added.
"Generally, distributors are proving very resilient to market and economic pressures, however we expect to see further rationalisation and consolidation within the sector and it will be interesting to see how the industry responds to new threats such as changing business models with the growth of cloud computing,” Norman commented.
Source: ChannelEMEA
