Hardware opportunities for MSPs are in a surprising upswing again. For years, channel pros have scrambled to meet demand for PCs among end users. It started with the Covid-19 pandemic, when many employers suddenly had to accommodate their workforces in remote environments. More recently, Microsoft’s Windows 11 updates created another rush. AI‑ready machines and Copilot‑optimized PCs are further accelerating refresh cycles.
Total shipments of desktops, notebooks and workstations grew 6.8% to 72 million units in third-quarter 2025, Omdia recently reported. Notebook shipments rose 4% to 57.2 million units, while desktop shipments grew 17% to 15.2 million units, per the report.
Demand is expected to continue and product makers are preparing for this, Omdia Research Director Ishan Dutt said in the report. “With upgrade demand spilling into Q4 and beyond, key industry players have outlined updated roadmaps for new products aimed at enticing PC purchases.”
Find the Opportunity
While this offers a great opportunity for MSPs, some see hardware sales — or simply taking and filling orders for new PCs and servers — as more of a burden. “Hardware is something that we will always kind of have to deal with in some respect, because you have to access the internet somehow,” said David Vu of Knoxville, TN-based MESHD MSP. “But there’s not much margin in hardware.”
However, IT providers who think smarter about how they sell and support hardware can make good money along the way. Other MSPs said reports of hardware’s death as a business opportunity for the channel are greatly exaggerated. Rather, they recommend going about it in a strategic manner.
Improve, Simplify, and Automate
To get started on finding the right opportunities in hardware sales, get the small things right. For example, add manufacturer service plans like Lenovo’s Premier Support or Dell’s ProSupport to hardware deals. This can increase margins for you while reducing device-related downtime for your clients. A few other profit boosters include:
- Include warranties in every sale you make.
- Renew those warranties when their expiration dates approach.
- Offer extended warranties from third-party providers when renewal isn’t an option.
Simply checking in on customers regularly about their hardware needs can uncover hidden revenue opportunities too. Companies may be tiring of their current PCs midway through a refresh cycle, for example. “We try to do quarterly reviews and see where the client’s performance and expectations are,” Vu shared.
Vu is also a fan of standardizing the hardware his customers use as much as possible in a bid to drive margins up by driving overhead down. “We’re able to troubleshoot more efficiently,” he said, because technicians can get more familiar with fewer products.
Others have found similar dividends from standardizing customers on up-to-date equipment. This can simplify the support needed on the back end.
The Stronger As-a-service Option
To make hardware a real bottom-line contributor, stop selling it all alone. PC margins may be slender, but “blended margins” on bundled combinations of hardware, software, and services are substantially greater.
Esteban D. Blanco
In fact, technology service provider Esteban Blanco makes so little on devices that he simply passes along the discount he gets from Dell, his supplier of choice, to the end user. “Whatever we pay for the equipment is what the customer pays,” said the chief geek officer of Arlington, TX-based Blanco I.T. Then, he attaches security software and managed support to every hardware deal.
“The client pays you to protect that endpoint month after month after month,” Blanco noted. “You multiply that times five years, and that [hardware] margin is pennies compared to what you just made on the managed service.”
Focusing on services also makes you more valuable to clients. In addition, bundled offers are attractive to business owners when they can be paid for on one recurring bill. This is why many hardware makers and distributors offer device-as-a-service (DaaS) options. Today, DaaS programs increasingly include security, lifecycle management, and predictable refresh cycles, which appeal to SMBs controlling capital expenses.
Going Vertical
Some MSPs have found success in creating hardware/software/services packages that offer industry-specific solutions. Choosing the right components, deploying, integrating, and maintaining them, and training people to use those solutions all generate revenue. Customers in various verticals are usually more than willing to pay for those services.
Acquiring the skills and industry know-how to provide that support takes years, though. It’s important for MSPs to invest time into building those capabilities.
Beyond the PC
There are other hardware opportunities that rely little, if at all, on PCs.
- Interactive Displays: Interest in modern, low‑touch or gesture‑driven interactive displays has grown among offices, hospitals, museums, and retailers.
- Conference Room Upgrades: Spending on audiovisual solutions is higher these days as businesses install bigger displays, better speakers, and more sensitive microphones in conference rooms to accommodate hybrid workers. Distributors can help channel pros close skills gaps here too, observed Vu, who regularly leverages pro AV services from D&H. “You kind of get the base information of what the client is looking for and some of the measurements of the room or the location that it’s going in,” he said. D&H architects and installers do the rest.
Craig McLellan
- Smart Systems: Devices elsewhere in the office can also produce revenue, according to Blanco. His clients are increasingly deploying video surveillance cameras, smart thermostats, smart bulbs, and other IoT hardware, as well as software and panels for controlling them. In addition to one-time installation fees, IoT projects often spur businesses to add or upgrade switches, routers, and firewalls, he said.
- Private Cloud: Businesses are investing in private clouds running on converged and hyperconverged infrastructure even as public cloud adoption grows, according to Craig McLellan, founder and CEO of Canadian cloud solution provider ThinkOn Inc. This is driven by needs around data sovereignty, predictable costs, and performance for new workloads.
The Right Solution for Client Needs
Anticipating and acting on needs like that is the ultimate secret to prosperity in the hardware market. Blanco recalled a friend who runs a networking solution provider as further proof. The friend’s company once landed a deal with a building management business that was rolling out hundreds of keyless, smartphone-controlled front door locks. The company needed help with the Wi-Fi portion of the project, so the friend stepped in and found success, Blanco said.
“There’s a ton of opportunity out there. You just have to really keep your ear to the ground and recognize it.”
Featured image: iStock
