Ingram Micro reported a 35% increase in lifecycle services sales in its fiscal third quarter and said it is expanding its IT asset disposition and repair capabilities. The growth covers a combined business that includes supply chain services and reverse logistics, so it does not establish how much the company’s ITAD operations grew.
The announcement puts hardware recovery among the expansion priorities of a distributor with an extensive network of technology resellers. For independent ITAD operators, that creates opportunities to work with channel partners while also bringing competition from a company involved in supplying their enterprise customers’ new equipment.
During the Oct. 29 earnings call, CEO Paul Bay said Ingram was expanding ITAD and repair to help customers recover equipment value while meeting data security and sustainability requirements. He also described a return to supply chain services using available capacity within the company’s existing infrastructure.
Repair, logistics drive growth
In North America, sales in Ingram’s “other services” business increased 114% from a year earlier. The company attributed that increase primarily to US reverse logistics and repair, with a smaller contribution from its return to supply chain services. The combined category includes ITAD.
The distinction is important for operators assessing demand and current trends. Repair work, product returns and corporate equipment disposition serve different customer needs, and growth across the combined business cannot be translated into additional retired-device volumes
PC units down, ASPs up
Ingram’s PC business presented a different picture. Bay said PC unit sales fell by a low-double-digit percentage, although higher average selling prices more than offset the decline in revenue terms. AI PCs accounted for roughly half of PC revenue.
The company expects the refresh cycle to continue into the fourth quarter at a slower pace. Bay also said smaller business customers appeared to be extending PC replacement cycles, suggesting that some customers are stretching existing equipment rather than following the same purchasing schedule as larger enterprises.
For electronics recovery businesses, those comments reinforce the need to examine customer replacement plans directly. Higher spending on new computers can reflect more expensive configurations without producing a corresponding increase in devices available for collection.
Ingram’s overall results remained strong. Net sales reached $15.22 billion for the 13 weeks ended Sept. 26, up 20.8% from the comparable quarter. Advanced solutions sales, which include servers and AI infrastructure, grew 40%.
The operational takeaway for recovery companies is Ingram’s stated commitment to expanding ITAD and repair alongside its distribution relationships. Resellers can influence both purchasing and equipment replacement, making them valuable partners for independent operators. Ingram’s expansion gives those operators another reason to establish who manages recovery when their shared customers buy new technology.
