SHI's record H1 takes revenue towards $5bn

US firm saw revenue hit the $10bn mark last year

American giant SHI has reported record H1 revenue of nearly $5bn (£4.1bn) as sales with vendors including Cisco and Apple surged.

SHI said that income for the six-month period ending 30 June 2019 rose 6.7 per cent year on year to $4.9bn.

The growth comes after the US firm saw revenue hit $10bn last year.

CEO Thai Lee said: "Our growth as a company has always been a product of our world-class customer service.

"But now more than ever, customers rely on us to provide advanced, integrated hardware, software, and hybrid cloud solutions. Doing that properly and at scale requires infrastructure and resources.

"For the past 18 months we've been expanding our capabilities, from accelerating our hiring to fortifying our training capabilities to nearing completion of two major new facilities. All of it is in service to our customers as we guide them to the solutions that deliver the most value to their organisations."

SHI said that sales in its UK organisation climbed 12 per cent in the first half of the year.

Headcount increased 15 per cent in the first half of this year, to 4,500 employees worldwide.

The firm said that Adobe, Amazon, Apple and Cisco were its standout vendors over the period.

Earlier this year UK boss Darren Brodrick told CRN that the US firm has, over the last two or three years, made a conscious effort to grow its UK operation for the first time.

He said that an increased focus on services and bolstering employee ranks has contributed to growth in the region.

Last year SHI's UK revenue was estimated at around £285m, according to CRN's Top VARs report.