Network Hardware Resale White Paper Sample

The secondary market for IT products is thriving. Everything from used PCs to telephones to high-end switches are available in large quantities at a fraction of OEM list prices. The secondary market for networking equipment, currently sized at $.5 billion by leading analyst groups, is expected to grow faster than the OEM market in 009 and 010 as enterprises look for ways to cut IT costs without sacrificing quality.

Products enter the secondary market when they are purchased from the manufacturer and subsequently resold. This scenario commonly occurs when a company upgrades its equipment and seeks to recover value on used, decommissioned switches, routers and other network components.

During economic downturns, the resulting bankruptcies and consolidations bring an accelerated surge of state-of-the art equipment onto the market as companies liquidate assets to try and recoup some value from their technology investments. Integrators and large companies also find themselves stuck with new, unopened equipment when projects are canceled or scaled back, and they are left without an option to return the equipment to the OEM. When this equipment enters the secondary market, it is typically termed “new surplus,” “new-in-box” or “new open-box” to identify its status as unused but not direct from the manufacturer.