Monday Morning Impact – April 27
D&H Rolls Out New MSP Toolkit to Support Partner Service Transitions
D&H Distributing has launched its “Success Path to MSP Toolkit,” designed to help VARs, resellers, and small IT providers evolve into full Managed Service Providers (MSPs) or Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs).
“Many VARs, resellers, and smaller IT providers want to evolve into full Managed Service Providers or Managed Security Service Providers—but the journey is often unclear and unnecessarily complex,” said Adam Crockett, Sr. Director, Services & Advanced Solutions+ at D&H. “They’re dealing with fragmented, non‑integrated toolsets, no clear roadmap to scalable service maturity, rising costs and complexity when evaluating vendors, and limited visibility into compliance and security alignment. The Success Path to MSP Toolkit removes that friction by providing a validated, integration‑ready framework that aligns technology, operations, and business growth—giving providers a clear, confident path to evolve and scale.”
The Harrisburg, Pennsylvania company’s new resources help partners define the exact software stack, integrations, and service functions needed for each stage of an MSP’s journey. Through a series of live and on-demand webinars, the Toolkit covers foundational guidance on becoming an MSP, automating, and scaling managed services, transitioning to MSSP capabilities, Zero Trust, and advanced cloud security. Each episode is delivered by a D&H subject matter expert and includes key outcomes and calls to action, so that partners can readily apply the content to their businesses.
“We’ve made it easy for partners to attach iteratively built, SKU‑based comprehensive services to their existing offerings—without the cost, risk, or complexity of building services from scratch,” added Crockett. “As AI introduces new opportunities for growth, our pre‑sales engineers and solutions architects are working side‑by‑side with partners to address real‑world challenges, enabling them to confidently seize AI‑driven opportunities as the market evolves.”
Channel Impact®
Many partners want to expand into managed and security services but don’t know where to start or how to scale. The new resources are intended to give them a clear path forward.
IDC: PC Market Records Another Quarter of Positive Growth
Global PC shipments grew 2.5% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2026, reaching 65.6 million units, according to preliminary results from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. Despite deteriorating macroeconomic conditions and memory shortage issues, the PC market recorded another quarter of positive growth, mostly fueled by the anticipation of rising component prices, Windows 10 migration, and new product introductions.
“As expected, 2026 will be characterized by market share shifts,” said Jean Philippe Bouchard, research vice-president with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. “The strength of every PC vendor’s supply chain and ability to access core components, such as memory, will be tested. IDC believes that demand will be met by PC vendors who have best secured access to memory and with a device portfolio capable of addressing all price tiers of the market.”
While recording positive growth in this first quarter of 2026, the component shortages and deteriorating economic conditions have started to impact the PC market, as illustrated by a sharp decline in growth trends in every region. IDC believes that the remainder of the year will see further decline in PC shipments as system prices continue to rise.
“The Middle East conflict has injected a fresh layer of volatility into a fragile computing devices market, straining global logistics through a double-edged sword of rising energy costs and freight spikes,” said Isaac Ngatia, senior research analyst, IDC Devices Research. “On one hand, sea corridors continue to face ongoing disruption, especially ones connecting Asia and EMEA, on the other, pivoting to air freight has become more expensive. Ultimately, these premiums are trickling down the value chain, intensifying the pricing pressure of PCs on the end-users.”
IDC declares a statistical tie in the Personal Computing Device market when there is a difference of one-tenth of one percent (0.1%) or less in the shipment of shares among two or more vendors. Traditional PCs include Desktops, Notebooks, and Workstations, and do not include Tablets or x86 Servers.
Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the company/brand under which they are sold.
Channel Impact®
Partners may find increased success in moving forward with related transactions as soon as feasible.
Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Increased 4% in First Quarter of 2026
Worldwide PC shipments totaled 62.8 million units in the first quarter of 2026, a 4% increase from the first quarter of 2025, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.
“The 4% year-over-year PC shipment growth in the first quarter of 2026 was artificially inflated,” said Rishi Padhi, Research Principal at Gartner. “It was not due to genuine demand, but instead because of vendors’ and channel distributors’ increase of inventory levels ahead of expected price hikes in the second quarter of 2026 driven by rapidly rising memory price inflation (memflation), as well as DRAM and NAND flash component costs. This is especially true for lower-margin products.”
The growth exhibited in the first quarter of 2026 is also relative to a high first quarter in 2025, which was already inflated due to front-loading ahead of U.S. tariffs, according to Gartner.
There were no major changes for the top four PC vendors in worldwide PC shipments, while ASUS overtook Acer to be number five in vendor rankings during the first quarter of 2026. Among the top three, Lenovo and Dell both increased their market share, while HP Inc. lost market share.
“Apple grew 12.7% year-over-year, which was the largest jump among the major vendors and resulted in a 0.8% increase in market share,” said Padhi. “This performance was primarily driven by robust demand for the MacBook Neo, particularly among new Mac users and buyers in the education sector. This strategic positioning enabled Apple to attract cost-conscious consumers seeking high-performance devices, further solidifying its competitive advantage in the segment.”
Gartner clients can read more in “Market Share Alert: Preliminary, PCs, Worldwide, 1Q26.”
Channel Impact®
While the same guidance prevails, Gartner is slightly more bullish on this market segment.
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