Channel Best-Sellers: Networking That Pays Off

D-Link Systems, which ended 2006 with a 7.7 percent share, showed the highest growth for the six-month period, posting a 1.9 increase in share to 8.22 percent.

Linksys finished the period from January to June 2007 with a 1.29 increase in share to 40 percent, while parent Cisco's share stayed relatively flat, dropping 0.73 percent to 20.81 for the same period.

Rounding out the top-five pack were Netgear, which dropped 3.4 to 13.52 and Trendware, which closed out the June 2007 period with a 1.83 percent share.

Pat Walsh, president of Computer Station of Orlando, headquartered in Longwood, Fla., said the majority of the SMB wireless networking business he does is with Linksys because of the company's superior reseller problem resolution compared with the likes of D-Link and Belkin. "If you have a problem and try to get it resolved with D-Link or Belkin, you might as well be knocking your head against the wall. Then you are stuck. And time is money," Walsh said.

Jeffrey Goldberg, president of Washington Computer Services, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based solution provider, gives D-Link credit for a sturdy, reliable product offering at an economical price. "I can't ever remember a D-Link product as being defective or breaking," he said. "We have never had a negative experience with their hardware."

-- Steven Burke

SMB Wireless Networking 1st half 2007 Market Share Market Share Change 1st half '07 vs. 1st half '06 Linksys Group 40% +1.3 Cisco Systems 20.81% -0.7 Netgear Inc. 13.52% -3.4 D-Link Systems 8.22% +1.9 Trendware 1.83% +1.8 * Ranking based on 1st half 2007 share of sales dollar volume. Highlighted vendor gained greatest share from 1st half 2006 to 1st half 2007 Source: The NPD Group/Distribution Track (Incudes GTDC Data), www.npd.com/lps/distributortrack