Monday Morning Impact – July 14
Canalys: US PC Shipments Rose in Q1, but Growth Expected to Slow
Shipments of desktops and notebooks to the United States grew 15% year over year in Q1 2025, hitting 16.9 million units, as a surge in sell-in activity by vendors driven by efforts to navigate tariff announcements has led to significant inventory buildup that will now need to be cleared. This, combined with downward pressure on consumer spending, will lead to a market slowdown for the remainder of the year, according to Canalys, with total PC shipments in 2025 forecast to increase by just 2% annually. With a considerable portion of Windows refresh activity set to occur after the Windows 10 end-of-support deadline in October 2025, growth in 2026 is expected to come in at 4%.
Business procurement of PCs is set to remain healthy this year and will help outweigh the stagnation in consumer spending on the category. Commercial PC shipments are anticipated to grow 8% in stark contrast to the 4% decline expected in consumer shipments.
“The pace of transition to Windows 11 among US businesses has been a positive sign for the industry,” said Ishan Dutt, Research Director at Canalys. “Commercial demand, particularly from SMBs, is set to accelerate in the second half of 2025 as Microsoft ramps up its awareness drive on the importance of timely refresh. However, consumers’ appetite for big-ticket spending on PCs faces a number of downside risks. Although PCs currently remain exempt, broader tariffs impacting key spending categories have already resulted in inflationary pressure, with the Federal Reserve pausing its planned interest rate cuts in anticipation of further price rises in the remainder of the year. With retail inventories relatively well stocked, sell-in during H2 2025 is likely to be constrained.”
“Despite the sense of urgency driven by the Windows 10 EoS date, consumer demand in the US has remained largely unaffected,” said Research Manager Kieren Jessop. “This highlights a key reality: many PC users are indifferent to the Windows 10 EoS until it becomes a significant pain point. Consumer PC purchases tend to be largely driven by factors like poor battery life, slow performance or hardware failures. Overwhelming specifications and unclear messaging also exacerbate the complexity of the PC buying journey.”
Channel Impact®
For vendors and channel partners, this underscores the need to simplify the buyer experience through clear, needs-based messaging and streamlined product portfolios. The channel must proactively guide consumers through a coherent and intuitive purchasing process, helping them easily identify devices tailored to their needs.
LevelBlue to Acquire Trustwave to Upgrade AI Capabilities
LevelBlue, a Dallas based company specializing in managed security services (MSS), has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Trustwave, which provides cybersecurity and managed detection and response (MDR) services. The selling party is the MC2 Security Fund, a private equity fund sponsored by The Chertoff Group.
The acquisition is intended to integrate LevelBlue’s expertise in strategic risk management and cybersecurity infrastructure with Trustwave’s Fusion Platform and cloud-native MDR service, thereby providing visibility and control over how security resources are provisioned, monitored, and managed. The combined portfolios will also establish a unified cybersecurity managed defense platform, supported by LevelBlue’s AI threat detection platform and SpiderLabs’ threat research and intelligence capabilities.
“Trustwave’s extensive expertise in managed detection and response services, combined with its unparalleled threat intelligence from SpiderLabs and mission-critical FedRAMP and StateRAMP authorizations, perfectly aligns with our vision to deliver simplified and powerful cybersecurity protection to organizations,” said Robert McCullen, Chairman and CEO of LevelBlue. This strategic move reflects our commitment to delivering better cybersecurity outcomes to our customers and enhances our global go-to-market capabilities, as well as in the U.S. federal, state, and local government markets.”
“The threat landscape continues to evolve at an increasingly rapid pace,” added Trustwave CEO Eric Harmon. “This announcement reinforces Trustwave’s market leadership, and together with LevelBlue, positions us to further strengthen our combined leadership position, bolster our offensive and defensive security portfolio, and drive additional innovation to further safeguard and fortify our clients against disruptive and damaging cyber threats.”
Based in Chicago, IL with worldwide operations, Trustwave is comprised of more than 1,000 security-focused professionals in managed detection and response, managed security services, cybersecurity advisory services, penetration testing, database security, and email security.
Financial terms were not disclosed, and the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions.
Channel Impact®
This portfolio consolidation is designed to address the increasing demand for more comprehensive and integrated managed cybersecurity solutions, safeguarding critical assets across cloud, hybrid, and on-premises environments, while also opening FedRAMP opportunities for LevelBlue.
Barracuda Launches Managed Vulnerability Security
Barracuda Networks, a Campbell, California-based cybersecurity company, has launched its new “Barracuda Managed Vulnerability Security” service, which is designed to help organizations proactively identify, assess and prioritize vulnerabilities.
“By proactively identifying vulnerabilities, we can better predict the likelihood of an attack, giving both Barracuda and our customers a decisive edge to stop threats before they’re exploited and reduce cyber risk,” said Adam Khan, vice president of global security operations at Barracuda. “With expert guidance and smart prioritization, it streamlines remediation and transforms how organizations manage vulnerabilities and defend against today’s sophisticated attacks.”
The service provides vulnerability scanning, analysis and contextual reporting across organizations’ networks and cloud infrastructure. It also uncovers vulnerabilities across a broad range of hardware and software – including endpoints, servers, IoT devices, firewalls, and other network-connected systems.
The service can be deployed on its own or with Barracuda Managed XDR, a 24/7/365 threat detection and response offering that leverages advanced AI analytics and threat intelligence to prevent breaches.
Organizations receive detailed, actionable reports, including an audit summary and prioritized remediation plan.
Barracuda Managed Vulnerability Security is now available to both new and existing customers through Barracuda’s global network of resellers and Managed Service Providers.
Channel Impact®
When combined with the Barracuda technology lineup, customers and channel partners gain a unified, fully managed security experience designed to streamline vendor management, and accelerate threat detection and remediation.
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