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The world's largest IT distributors are driving strong overall growth in 2011, according to the Global Technology Distribution Council (GTDC), whose members represent more than $100 billion in annual revenue. U.S. sales accelerated to record levels for the month of March, with double-digit increases across multiple product categories, based on the GTDC's comprehensive analysis of member data independently aggregated down to the SKU level by The NPD Group in the U.S. and CONTEXT in Europe.

"The breadth and depth of the industry's recovery is clearly evident from the results of our members," commented Tim Curran, the GTDC's chief executive officer. "Total U.S. hardware sales have increased significantly over the past year and surged in March, with the first quarter in this region tracking nearly $370 million ahead of Q1 last year, according to The NPD Group's Distributor Track®."

GTDC analysis shows that the pace of recovery has been slower in Europe, where seasonality fluctuations are greater and the diverse economies have moderated total regional results. "IT distributor sales have been trending higher in the northern countries tracked and lower in the southern part of the region," Curran pointed out. "Despite these and other challenges, our members have been generating solid overall financial performance."

PC Market Index Reveals Pace of Recovery in U.S. and Europe To help assess how the market recovery has progressed in both the U.S. and Europe, the GTDC established a comprehensive PC Market index for each region based on sales, unit volume and ASP ratios of corresponding products from the trough of the downturn in Q1 2009 to the most recent current quarter. For the first quarter that ended in March, the GTDC's PC Market Index is up 37 points in the U.S. and 7 points in Europe. The PC Market category includes comparable products in each region, ranging from desktops and notebooks to workstations and servers.

GTDC's Investor Conference in New York Digs into Diverse IT Market Trends Across U.S. and Europe The GTDC's upcoming Investor Conference, May 10 at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York, will give buy- and sell-side analysts a thorough understanding of IT market trends and distribution industry developments across the world. The event provides compelling perspective on how technology solutions, channels and services are changing -- with the presidents and CEOs of today's largest distributors on hand to share their front-line insights and outlooks.

"Distributors are in a prime central position within the overall IT industry," Curran emphasized. "These leaders know the real story in IT because they live and enable it every day, and our member data shows exactly where market opportunities are unfolding or contracting across all product categories. The best news for distributors is that they have again proven their resilience in the toughest of business conditions -- emerging from the downturn stronger and more diversified as well as more strategically aligned with vendor partners on all levels."

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 Council 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 AB S.A (WSE: ABPL), ABC Data, ALSO-Actebis (SIX: ALSN), Arrow Electronics (NYSE: ARW), Avnet (NYSE: AVT), Computer Gross Italia, Computerlinks, Altimate Group/DCC SerCom, D&H, Esprinet (PRT.MI), Ingram Micro (NYSE: IM), Intcomex, Magirus AG, Officer Distribuidora, Redington (BSE: REDI), SiS Technologies (HKSE: 0529), ScanSource (NASDAQ: SCSC), SYNNEX (NYSE: SNX), Tech Data (NASDAQ: TECD), 20:20 Mobile Group, Westcoast LTD and Westcon.

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GTDC CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION: Chuck Miller CommCentric Solutions Inc. Phone: 727-432-4097 E-mail: Email Contact