First report with data from First Plug's own operation. Period: January–June 2026.
At First Plug, we accompany fast-growing remote companies that have their collaborators distributed throughout the region. Headquarters in one country, collaborators in others, someone new starting on Monday who lives 800 kilometers from the nearest capital.
This is the first report we are publishing with data from our own operation. It is not a survey or a market projection: these are actual orders processed between January and June 2026.
We do this to tell you what hardware management looks like behind closed doors: how long it actually takes to reach someone's home in the interior of Colombia. Which part of the process generates the most friction. What changed in the market in six months. We have those answers because we operate them every day.
During the first half of 2026, we delivered 908 devices to 795 collaborators, across 21 countries, for 97 companies.
The number that says the most of the four is the last one. Ninety-seven companies for nine hundred devices gives an average of 9.4 devices per company over the entire semester.
Hardware management for remote teams is not a volume problem, but a dispersion problem. None of these companies buy in quantities that justify setting up their own logistics operation. But almost all of them need to put a computer in the hands of a person who lives in another country. On an exact date, with the software configured. And with someone to respond if something goes wrong.
Buying 500 devices for an office is a negotiation problem. Buying 9 devices for 9 people in 5 countries is a coordination problem. And coordination does not scale with budget, it scales with process.
Almost one device per person: this is equipment, not replacement
The vast majority of operations in the semester were for initial equipment, not fleet renewal or replacement due to failure. Companies hiring people and needing to equip them.
This confirms which trigger dominates demand today: the growth of distributed headcount. Not obsolescence or planned turnover, someone new joins the company and it has to be resolved.
How long it really takes to equip a remote person
The question that always comes up is "how long does it take for the equipment to arrive?". The answer will depend not so much on the country, but on the exact location of the collaborator. Delivery times in capital cities are usually shorter than in the interior of each country.
With stock available, the delivery time in the LATAM capitals where we operate ranges from 1 to 3 days on average. To give an example, cities like Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Bogota, Lima, Montevideo, La Paz, and Quito fall into the 1 to 3 days range. Mexico City, Santiago, and Asuncion, in 2 to 4.
Although in the interior of those same countries, however, the average stretches to 2.5 to 6 days, depending on the complexity of the territory.
These are the estimated ranges within which we operate, not a delivery commitment. They arise from our operational experience in each destination and serve for planning, not as a guaranteed deadline.
What did we change in these six months?
The most relevant change of the semester was internal. Together with the Product team, we developed our own operations platform to manage and control each order individually, with prioritization criteria based on urgency and complexity.
It is not a client-facing tool. It is internal infrastructure and transforms our daily tasks into a clear and orderly process.
It is the kind of decision that is not seen from the outside. But it appears as a shorter response time, or a more precise answer when someone asks about their equipment.
What changed the market this semester: hardware became more expensive
The global shortage of DRAM and NAND memory drove component prices to unprecedented levels. This was fueled by the demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. Large data center operators saturated the production chain.
In June, Apple applied a widespread price increase to a large portion of its catalog (MacBook, iPad, Mac Studio, HomePod, and Apple TV) attributed to the sharp increase in memory costs: the MacBook Pro with the M5 chip increased by $300, nearly 18% over its previous price, and the MacBook Air M5 rose between $200 and $300 depending on the model. The root cause lies in the demand for memory chips by large artificial intelligence data center operators, which saturated the production chain.
Methodology
The data corresponds to transactions processed by First Plug between January 1 and June 30, 2026.
Equipment delivered: 908 units dispatched and confirmed during the period.
Equipped employees: 795 unique people.
Client companies: 97 accounts with at least one active transaction during the period.
Countries: 21 countries with at least one effective transaction during the semester. Available coverage is greater.
Delivery times: estimated ranges with stock available. These are not guaranteed delivery times. Regional averages are derived from averaging the minimums and maximums of the surveyed LATAM countries.
The report reflects what we see from our own operations. It does not include data from other market players and does not claim to represent the entire region.
You might also be interested in…
