Business update
Channel and Components, EMEA
We do not sell most of our electrical products directly. We sell them through other companies: wholesalers, panel builders, online platforms. This is a short update on that business, written from public information in July 2026.
We are growing faster than the market we sell into
The quarter was a record. Electrical Global sold 1,945 million dollars in the first quarter of 2026, up 9 percent before acquisitions and currency, at a 19.2 percent margin[1]. Europe brought in 5,078 million dollars of group sales in 2025[2].
The market underneath us is flat. European construction grew 0.2 percent in 2025[3]. Data centre building is the exception, with 176 billion euros of European investment projected for 2026 to 2031[4].
That gap has one meaning. Our growth is not coming from a rising market. It is coming off a competitor's shelf.
Exhibit 1
Our growth and our market are moving at different speeds
| What is measured | Number | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Our segment sales[1] | 1,945m dollars | Q1 2026 |
| Group sales into Europe[2] | 5,078m dollars | 2025 |
| Our growth without acquisitions[1] | 9 percent | Q1 2026 |
| Our margin[1] | 19.2 percent | Q1 2026 |
| European construction growth[3] | 0.2 percent | 2025 |
These are company and market numbers. Nobody publishes a number for this channel business on its own, so none of these is a channel result.
Four ways we reach a customer, and they are not separate
The same partner shows up twice. A company can buy from us as a wholesaler and again as a panel builder, on two different sets of terms. That is where money leaks.
- Wholesalers. Shops that stock our products and sell them on. We reach more than 1,200 of them in the region[5].
- Panel builders. Firms that assemble our components into finished electrical panels. Once they design us in, switching brands means redoing engineering work.
- Brand label. We make products that a distributor sells under their own name. Profitable, and it competes with our own brand.
- Online. Ordering through partner websites and system to system connections. Already half the business at our largest distributor[6].
What we pay partners for had to change in 2024
The regulator drew a line. In October 2024 the French competition authority fined four companies in this industry a combined 470 million euros for controlling the prices distributors resell at[7]. Two of the four are our own partners.
The rule in one sentence
We can pay a partner for what they do: hold stock, train people, keep product data clean, report their sales. We cannot pay them for what they charge.
Three decisions worth taking now
- One negotiator per buying group. Independent wholesalers club together to buy. Today we agree terms country by country and they compare notes.
- Open the new wholesaler programme wider. Our EMEA wholesaler programme is new, and for its first year it is open only to partners who already stock us[5]. That is a closed door in front of the partners we most want to win.
- A written line on brand label. Which categories we supply under someone else's name, and which we defend. Decided once, not deal by deal.
What this update cannot see
Everything above is public. The four measures that would settle these decisions are internal, and none of them appear in any filing.
- How much of each big distributor's spend comes to us rather than a competitor.
- What we pay out in rebates, and what that money brings back.
- The gap between our list price and what we actually invoice.
- How complete our product data is on partner websites.
Until those four sit on one page, any channel plan is a guess. The first thing this business needs is a baseline, not a strategy.
Sources
- Eaton, first quarter 2026 earnings release. https://www.eaton.com/content/dam/eaton/company/investor-relations/quarterly-earnings/filings/2026/q1/q1-2026-earnings-complete.pdf (accessed 27 July 2026)
- Eaton, FY2025 Form 10-K, net sales by geographic destination. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1551182/000155118226000007/etn-20251231.htm (filed 26 February 2026, accessed 27 July 2026)
- Euroconstruct, 101st Euroconstruct Conference, EC-19 construction output. https://www.euroconstruct.org/news/press-release-101st-euroconstruct-conference/ (published June 2026, accessed 27 July 2026)
- EUDCA, State of European Data Centres 2026. https://www.eudca.org (accessed 27 July 2026)
- Eaton, Electrical Wholesaler programme and Panel Builder Power Advantage partner pages, stating an EMEA network of more than 1,200 electrical wholesalers and that the wholesaler programme is open to Authorised stocking partners for its first 12 months. https://www.eaton.com/gb/en-gb/company/partnering-with-eaton/become-an-eaton-partner/EWS.html (accessed 27 July 2026)
- Sonepar, record 2025 results, 33.6 billion euros of sales and 45 percent digital share of European revenue. https://www.sonepar.com/en/newsroom/sonepar-sets-new-records-in-2025-with-33-6-billion-sales-and-market-leadership-194818 (published 24 March 2026, accessed 27 July 2026)
- Autorite de la concurrence, decision 24-D-09, 470 million euros of fines on Schneider Electric, Legrand, Rexel and Sonepar for resale price fixing. https://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/en/press-release/electrical-equipment-autorite-imposes-fines-eu470-million-manufacturers-schneider (published 30 October 2024, accessed 27 July 2026)