PC CONNECTION INC (CNXN) Business

Item 1. Business

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GENERAL

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We are a Fortune 1000 Global Solutions Provider that simplifies IT, guiding the connection between people and technology. Our dedicated account managers partner with customers to design, deploy, and support cutting-edge IT environments using the latest hardware, software, and services. We provide a wide range of IT solutions, from the desktop to the cloud—including computer systems, data center solutions, security, artificial intelligence, or AI, software and peripheral equipment, networking communications, and other products and accessories that we develop internally and secure from manufacturers, distributors, and other suppliers. Our Technology Solutions and Services Organization, or TSSO, and state-of-the-art ISO 9001:2015 SOC 2 Type 2 certified Technology Integration and Distribution Center, or TIDC, offer end-to-end services related to the design, configuration, and implementation of IT solutions. Our team also provides a comprehensive portfolio of managed services and professional services. These services are performed by our personnel and by third-party providers. Our GlobalServe offering ensures worldwide coverage for our multinational customers, delivering global procurement solutions through our network of in-country suppliers in over 150 countries.

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The “Connection” brand includes Connection Enterprise Solutions, Connection Business Solutions, and Connection Public Sector Solutions. We united all of our subsidiaries into one cohesive brand, reflecting the promise of our blue arc and our mission to connect people with technology that enhances growth, elevates productivity, and empowers innovation. These entities represent our three operating segments and their respective markets:

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Financial results for each of our segments are included in the financial statements attached hereto. We generate sales through (i) outbound inside sales and field sales contacts by sales representatives focused on the business, educational, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and government markets, (ii) our websites, and (iii) direct responses from customers responding to our outreach. We offer a broad selection of over 460,000 products at competitive prices, including products from vendors like Apple, Cisco, Dell Inc., HP Inc., Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Intel, Lenovo, Microsoft Corporation, and VMware by Broadcom, and we partner with more than 1,600 suppliers. We are able to leverage our state-of-the art logistic capabilities to rapidly ship product to customers.

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We strive to identify the unique needs of our corporate, government, educational, and small business customers, and have designed our business processes to enable our customers to effectively manage their IT systems. We provide value by offering our customers efficient design, integration, deployment, and support of their IT environments. As of December 31, 2025, we employed 679 sales representatives. Sales representatives are responsible for managing enterprise, commercial, and public sector accounts, as specialization and a deep understanding of unique customer environments are more important than ever. These sales representatives focus on current and prospective customers and are supported by an increasing number of engineering, technical, and administrative staff through our TSSO. Our Industry Solutions Group, or ISG, provides our sales team and customers with insights and guidance customized to the unique needs of our vertical markets, including healthcare, retail, finance, and manufacturing. We believe that increasing our sales force productivity is important to our future success.

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We market our products and services through our websites: www.connection.com, www.connection.com/enterprise, www.connection.com/publicsector, and www.cnxnhelix.com. Our websites provide extensive product information, customized pricing, rich content, and a digital platform for online orders. We are not including the information contained in our websites as part of, or incorporating by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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MARKET AND COMPETITION

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In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, we generated approximately 44.6% of our sales from medium-to-large businesses (Fortune 1000), 37.7% from SMBs, and 17.7% from government and educational institutions.

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The largest segment of the United States IT market that we operate within is served by local and regional value-added resellers, or VARs, many of whom engage in the sales of hardware and software products, as well as higher-margin IT services. We have adapted our business over the years to become an enterprise-wide IT solutions supplier. We have also partnered with third-party technology and telecommunications service providers to offer our customers access to the same services and technical expertise as local and regional VARs, but with a more extensive product selection, often at lower prices.

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Intense competition for customers has led manufacturers of the IT products we offer to use all available distribution channels, including solutions providers, to distribute their products. Certain manufacturers who have traditionally used resellers to distribute their products have also, from time to time, established their own direct marketing operations, including sales through the Internet.

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We believe new entrants to the IT solutions channel must overcome a number of obstacles, including:

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BUSINESS STRATEGIES

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We believe that we have become our customers’ IT provider of choice by calming the confusion surrounding IT procurement and solving complex business challenges with innovative IT solutions designed to meet their increased productivity, mobility, virtualization, and security needs in a continuously evolving IT environment. We offer our customers enhanced value by assisting them with both the design and implementation of IT solutions directed at cost-effectively maximizing the business opportunities created by new technologies and advanced service solutions. The key elements of our business strategies include:

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GROWTH STRATEGIES

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Our growth strategies are designed to increase revenues by maximizing operational efficiencies while offering innovative products and value-added service offerings, expanding our offerings to our existing customers, and expanding our customer base. Our seven key elements of growth are:

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SERVICE AND SUPPORT

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Since our founding in 1982, our primary objective has been to provide products and services that meet the demands and needs of our customers and to supplement those products with up-to-date product information and excellent customer service and support. We believe that offering our customers superior value, through a combination of product knowledge, consistent and reliable service and support, and leading products at competitive prices, differentiates us from other global solutions providers and serves as the foundation for developing a broad and loyal customer base.

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We invest in training programs for our service and support personnel, with an emphasis on putting customer needs and service first. Supplementing our sales force, our TSSO offers in-depth technical support across a wide range of advanced technology solutions. These teams of engineers and solution architects design end-to-end IT solutions tailored to our customers’ unique environments and serve as technology consultants. Our TIDC ensures a superior customer experience, with seamless configuration, deployment, and support services. Product support technicians assist customers with questions concerning compatibility, installation, and more difficult questions relating to product use. The product support technicians authorize customers to return defective or incompatible products to either the manufacturer or to us for warranty service. In-house TIDC technicians perform both warranty and non-warranty repair on most of the major systems and hardware products.

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Using our customized information system, we transmit our customer orders either to our TIDC or to our drop-ship suppliers, depending on product availability, for processing immediately after a customer receives credit approval. At our distribution center, we also perform custom configuration services, which typically includes custom imaging, the installation and integration of additional components, and other technology enhancements. Our customers may select the method of delivery that best meets their needs and is most cost effective, ranging from expedited overnight delivery for urgently needed items to ground freight.

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Our inventory stocking strategy is based on economics and the general availability of the product. We will stock product where there is an economic advantage to do so, or the product is in constrained supply. We also will stock product to support customer rollouts, including product that is running through our configuration and integration services prior to shipment.

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MARKETING AND SALES

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We sell our solutions through our direct marketing channels to (i) SMBs including small office/home office customers, (ii) government and educational institutions, and (iii) medium-to-large businesses. We strive to be the primary supplier of IT products and solutions to our customers by providing exemplary customer service. We use multiple marketing approaches to reach existing and prospective customers, including:

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All of our marketing approaches emphasize our innovative solution offerings, fast delivery, customer support, competitive pricing, and our wide range of services.

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Sales Channels. We believe that our ability to establish and maintain long-term customer relationships and to encourage repeat purchases is largely dependent on the strength of our sales personnel and programs. Because our customers’ primary contact with us is through our sales representatives, we are committed to maintaining a qualified, knowledgeable, and motivated sales staff with a principal focus on customer service.

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Outbound Inside Sales and Field Sales. We seek to build loyal relationships with potential high-volume customers by assigning them to individual account managers. We believe that customers respond favorably to one-on-one relationships with personalized, well-trained account managers. Once established, these one-on-one relationships are maintained and enhanced through frequent telecommunications and targeted electronic communications, as well as other marketing materials designed to meet each customer’s specific IT needs. We pay most of our account managers a base annual salary plus incentive compensation. Incentive compensation is tied generally to gross profit dollars produced by the individual account manager.

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E-commerce Sales. We generally provide product descriptions and prices for all of the products we offer through the e-commerce websites we maintain and operate. Our Connection website also provides updated information for more

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than 460,000 items. We offer, and continuously update, selected product offerings and other special buys. We believe our websites are an important source of sales and a communication tool for improving customer service.

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For example, our Enterprise Solutions Segment’s business process and operations are primarily Web-based. Most of its corporate customers utilize a customized Web page to quickly search, source, and track IT products. Our Enterprise Solution business website aggregates the current available inventories of its largest IT suppliers into a single online source for its corporate customers. Its custom designed Internet-based system, MarkITplace™, provides corporate buyers with comparative pricing from several suppliers as well as special pricing arranged through the manufacturer.

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The Internet supports three key business initiatives for us:

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Operating Segments. We conduct our business operations through three operating segments: Enterprise Solutions, Business Solutions, and Public Sector Solutions.

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Enterprise Solutions Segment. Through our custom-designed Web-based system, we are able to offer our larger corporate customers an efficient and effective method of sourcing, evaluating, purchasing, and tracking a wide variety of IT products and services. Our strategy is to be the primary single source procurement portal for our large corporate customers.

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Business Solutions Segment. Our principal target markets in this segment are SMB customers. We use a combination of outbound inside sales, including some on-site sales solicitation by business development managers, and Internet sales through customized Internet Business Accounts, to reach these customers.

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Public Sector Solutions Segment. We use a combination of outbound inside sales, including some on-site sales solicitation by business development managers, and Internet sales through customized Internet Business Accounts, to reach these customers. We target each of the four distinct market sectors within this segment—federal government, higher educational institutions, school grades K-12, and state and local governments.

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The following table sets forth the relative distribution of net sales by operating segment for the periods presented:

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Our ISG works across all operating segments to service the unique needs of healthcare, retail, finance, and manufacturing customers. Within each of these vertical markets, our ISG experts offer technology solutions and

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guidance backed by real-world experience. Our ISG combines extensive knowledge of the latest technologies, brands, and trends with industry experience that reassures our customers that we understand their businesses and their technology challenges. Our brand, and each of our operating segments, is supported by targeted marketing campaigns across a variety of media:

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Digital. We utilize a series of digital programs, in conjunction with advanced data analytics, to identify prospective customers and generate new leads within our existing customer base. These programs include website, email, blog, social media, electronic catalogs, webinars, and video/multimedia promotions.

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Specialty Marketing. In addition to our digital marketing efforts, we maintain a strong presence at industry tradeshows and conventions across the country, including a number of healthcare and education IT conferences. We also host a series of Technology Summits each year, with a focus on building stronger relationships with our customers and reinforcing our reputation as a trusted source of expertise.

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Customers. We maintain an extensive database of customers and prospects. However, no single customer accounted for more than 10% of our consolidated revenue in 2025, 2024, and 2023. The loss of any single customer would not have a material adverse effect on any of our operating segments. The majority of our backlog historically has been and continues to be open cancelable purchase orders. We do not have individual orders in our backlog that are material to our business, and as a result, we do not believe that backlog as of any particular dates is an indication of future results.

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PRODUCTS AND MERCHANDISING

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We continuously focus on expanding the breadth of our product and service offerings. We currently offer our customers over 460,000 IT products designed for business applications from more than 1,600 vendors. These products consist of hardware, including devices, peripherals, accessories, servers, storage, and networking products, along with cloud solutions, software and services. We select the products and solutions we sell based upon their technology and effectiveness, market demand, product features, quality, price, margins, and warranties. The following table sets forth our percentage of net sales for major product categories for the periods presented:

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We offer a 30-day right of return on most of the products we sell, generally limited to defective merchandise. Returns of non-defective products are subject to restocking fees. Substantially all of the products marketed by us are warranted by the manufacturer. We generally accept returns directly from the customer and then either credit the customer’s account or ship the customer a replacement or similar product from our inventory.

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PURCHASING AND VENDOR RELATIONS

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Product purchases from TD Synnex Corporation, Ingram Micro, Inc., and Microsoft Corporation accounted for approximately 25%, 21%, and 13%, respectively, of our total product purchases in 2025. Product purchases from Ingram Micro, Inc., TD Synnex Corporation, and Dell Inc. accounted for approximately 25%, 23%, and 11%, respectively, of our total product purchases in 2024. Product purchases from Ingram Micro, Inc., TD Synnex Corporation, and Microsoft Corporation accounted for approximately 21%, 19%, and 11%, respectively, of our total product purchases in 2023. No other singular vendor supplied more than 10% of our total product purchases in 2025, 2024, and 2023, as applicable. We

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believe that, while we may experience some short-term disruption if products from TD Synnex Corporation, Ingram Micro, Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Dell Inc., or any of these vendors become unavailable to us, alternative sources are available.

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Products manufactured by Microsoft Corporation, HP Inc., and Dell Inc. represented approximately 16%, 13%, and 12%, respectively, of our total product purchases in 2025. Products manufactured by Microsoft Corporation, HP Inc., and Dell Inc. represented approximately 15%, 12%, and 12%, respectively, of our total product purchases in 2024. Products manufactured by Microsoft Corporation, HP Inc., and Dell Inc. represented approximately 15%, 13%, and 11%, respectively, of our total product purchases in 2023. No other singular product manufacturer produced more than 10% of our total product purchases in 2025, 2024, and 2023, as applicable. We believe that in the event we experience either a short-term or permanent disruption of supply of Microsoft Corporation, HP Inc., or Dell Inc. products, such disruption would likely have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and cash flows.

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Throughout the majority of the year, we did not experience any significant challenges or disruptions in the supply chain and products were generally available in adequate supply. Towards the end of the year, a global memory (DRAM and NAND) shortage developed throughout the industry due to high demand from AI solutions. This is expected to extend into 2026. The business impact is yet to be determined.

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Many product suppliers reimburse us for advertisements or other cooperative marketing programs through various marketing vehicles. Reimbursements may be in the form of discounts, advertising allowances, and/or rebates. We also receive allowances from certain vendors based upon the volume of our purchases or sales of the vendors’ products by us. Some of our vendors offer limited price protection in the form of rebates or credits against future purchases. We may also participate in end-of-life product and other special purchases which may not be eligible for price protection.

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We believe that we have excellent relationships with our vendors. We generally pay vendors within stated terms, or earlier when favorable cash discounts are offered. We believe our high volume of purchases enables us to obtain product pricing and terms that are competitive with those available to other global IT solutions providers. Although brand names and individual product offerings are important to our business, we believe that competitive products are available in substantially all of the merchandise categories offered by us.

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DISTRIBUTION

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We fulfill orders from customers both from products we hold in inventory and through drop shipping arrangements with manufacturers and distributors. At our 268,000 square foot technology TIDC in Wilmington, Ohio, we receive and ship inventory, configure and integrate technology solutions, provide depot maintenance and services, and process returned products. The ISO 9001:2015 SOC 2 Type 2 certified TIDC features a state-of-the-art Configuration Lab that completed more than 550,000 custom configurations in 2025—including personal computing devices, servers, mobile devices, and networking hardware. Our technicians maintain extensive certifications and authorizations from all major manufacturers, with more than 90% of the TIDC technicians holding one or more CompTIA certifications. Through the TIDC, we are able to offer customers turnkey solutions for all of their IT needs, including hardware configuration, imaging and provisioning, asset management, remote management, white glove enrollment services, kitting, custom packaging, and depot repair services.

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We also place product orders directly with manufacturers and/or distribution companies for drop shipment directly to our customers. Order status with distributors is tracked online and a confirmation of shipment from manufacturers and/or distribution companies is received prior to initial recording of the transaction. Products drop shipped by suppliers were 69%, 69%, and 69%, of net sales in 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively. Electronic delivery for software licenses were approximately 11%, 10%, and 12% of total net sales in 2025, 2024, and 2023, respectively.

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MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS

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Our subsidiaries utilize management information systems which have been significantly customized for our use. These systems permit centralized management of key functions, including order taking and processing, inventory and accounts receivable management, purchasing, sales, and distribution, and the preparation of daily operating control

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reports on key aspects of the business. We also operate advanced telecommunications equipment to support our sales and customer service operations. Key elements of the telecommunications systems are integrated with our computer systems to provide timely customer information to sales and service representatives, and to facilitate the preparation of operating and performance data.

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Our success is dependent in large part on the accuracy and proper use of our information systems to manage our inventory and accounts receivable collections, to purchase, sell, and ship our products efficiently and on a timely basis, and to maintain cost-efficient operations. We expect to continue upgrading our information systems in the future to more effectively manage our operations and customer database.

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Our investments in IT systems and infrastructure are designed to enable us to operate more efficiently and to provide our customers enhanced functionality.

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COMPETITION

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The direct marketing and sale of IT-related products is highly competitive. We compete with other national solutions providers of IT products, including CDW Corporation, SHI, and Insight Enterprises, Inc., who are the current leaders in the space. We also compete with:

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