Ingram Micro North America Sales Up 14 Percent

"There was nothing specific or drastic that we did. It was the result of a lot of investments we have made that are now starting to get traction. The VAR segment is our fastest-growing segment. We have also driven more efficiency for ourselves as well and are more competitive in areas that are higher volume, such as the direct marketer business," Murai said.

Ingram Micro earned $53.8 million, or 32 cents per share, in line with estimates and compared to $41.7 million, or 26 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. The results include a a stock-based compensation expense of $7.7 million or 3 cents per share. The distributor's revenue increased 8 percent to $7.40 billion from $6.84 billion a year ago.

Murai also said the overall market is still strong. "The market, from what we can tell right now, the dynamics are pretty good. There's a pretty solid demand for technology products and we're in the right places," he said.

Europe continues to be a struggle in terms of demand, Murai said, a sentiment echoed by other distributors recently. Sales fell slightly in that region, according to the company.

"We are outperforming the overall market, but it has been a challenging market," he said. "HP concluded its rightsizing of its distribution partners and we fared well through that process. But overall the economy is soft and there is more pressure on margins than we have seen in previous years.

Elsewhere, Ingram Micro's Nimax and Avad business units fared well and will continue to operate under their own name, Murai said.

"The main reason we've done that is their go to market approach is different enough from our traditional business that we wanted to maintain that level of focus and market expertise," he said. "From a brand standpoint, we could someday call them Ingram Micro, but I don't know the timing of that. The models are working for us now."

Ingram Micro was recently authorized to sell McAfee's Foundstone and IntruShield products, part of a growing trend that more enterprise products are finding their way into broadline distribution, Murai said.

"A big driver is growth opportunities for manufacturers getting into medium-sized enterprises. The best way to do that is through broadline distribution. It's more cost effective and we have the resources," Murai said. "Technology changes are also blurring the lines. The Wintel platform is moving up and narrowing the market that the proprietary midrange space plays in."