Insight turns to kit sales in buoyant Q3

Channel powerhouse sidelines services as strong hardware sales help fuel top- and bottom-line boost

Boxing clever: North American sales of hardware and software grew by more than a quarter, while services sales declined

Resale giant Insight Enterprises enjoyed a stellar third quarter with sales growing by a fifth and operating profit more than doubling.

The Arizona-based firm's worldwide revenue for the three months to the end of September grew by 21 per cent annually to $1.2bn. Operational profit was up 109 per cent to $24.8m.

Success in North America was the key driver for Insight's third-quarter growth, with sales in the region rising by 27 per cent year on year to $871.2m. Product was king in Q3, with North American sales of hardware and software increasing 34 and 25 per cent respectively, while services sales slumped 14 per cent. Services now represents just six per cent of total North American sales, down from nine per cent in Q3 2009.

The EMEA region posted a solid 8 per cent annual spike in third-quarter revenue, which stood at $267.8m. But growth would have stood at 16 per cent were it not for the impact of weak European currency. EMEA hardware sales rose one per cent, with software up 12 per cent. Services revenue, which only represents two per cent of the total, grew by 33 per cent.

Sales across the Asia-Pacific region, which is 97 per cent focused on software, fell six per cent annually to $33.2m.

Insight chief executive Ken Lamneck said: "Today, we reported another quarter of healthy year-over-year growth driven by continued strong demand for IT products and improved execution.

"We are executing better and maintaining our general cost disciplines while we invest strategically in our sales force, which should serve us well as we close out 2010 and head into 2011."