Apple kit accounts for a quarter of Tech Data's Q4 sales

Apple TV, Apple Watch, iPads, iPhones, selling well, distie claims

A quarter of Tech Data's revenue in Q4 came from the sale of Apple products, which the distie's CEO claims is indicative of the vendor "finding its way into the enterprise".

Tech Data announced its fourth-quarter results last night, with net profit jumping from $80.2m (£56.42m) to $96.1m year on year, for the three months to 31 January. That was on sales of $7.5bn, up two per cent as reported, and ahead of its own guidance.

On an earnings call following the announcement, Tech Data's chief executive Robert Dutkowsky disclosed that 10 per cent of its Q4 revenue came from the sale of HP kit, while Apple represented almost a quarter (24 per cent) of the figure.

He told analysts on the call that the vendor is getting more traction in the commercial space.

"Remember, our Apple business is much broader than just the iPhone," he said. "It's the notebooks. It's the desktops. It's iPads. It's Beats. It's Apple TV. It's Apple Watch. The Apple product line has gotten much broader than what it was a few years ago. So there's a lot more to sell. We're selling it to more customers, and we're executing very well and gaining share in selected places.

"So the Apple success story at Tech Data is a broad success story. In the enterprise, the dynamic that's different than it has been in the past is clearly that the Apple product line is finding its way into the enterprise through routes to market such as Tech Data. That has represented good opportunity for us and it's driven some of that Apple growth that we're reporting."

In October last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts on the company's own earnings call not to underestimate the $25bn enterprise business it has "quietly built" over recent months and years.

"Our penetration is low, but we have significant actions going on to really deepen that," Cook said at the time.