Home Depot Gained Share in a Declining Category
While the overall power drill category contracted year over year, Home Depot picked up 2.9 points of market share, gaining ground even as the total pie shrank. That is not a demand story — it is a shelf and assortment story. Home Depot made deliberate ranging decisions that shifted which brands and platforms get space, and those decisions drove the share movement.
In a contracting category, share gains matter more. Every point gained is a point someone else lost. The brands and platforms that held or grew at Home Depot did so at the direct expense of others on the same shelf.
The Voltage Platform Shift Is the Real Story
The most significant structural change in power drills is the voltage platform mix. The 18V segment climbed from approximately 35% to 41% of category sales in Q1 2026. That 6-point swing represents a meaningful reallocation of shelf space and consumer dollars toward the mid-power tier.
At the other end, 12V nearly fell off the shelf, dropping to roughly 4% of sales. At Home Depot specifically, the 12V segment collapsed approximately 94% year over year — effectively an assortment exit down to a handful of SKUs. That kind of movement never surfaces in a category-level trendline. It only becomes visible at the SKU and platform level.
Meanwhile, 24V emerged as a real segment for the first time. The shift from 12V to 18V and 24V is not consumers spontaneously deciding they want more power. It is retailers and brands making platform bets through their assortment — deciding which voltage ecosystem gets shelf space, promotional support, and new SKU introductions.
For manufacturers, the voltage platform you lead with is increasingly a strategic bet on which shelf you will occupy in 12 months. A brand heavily invested in 12V at Home Depot saw its addressable shelf shrink by 94% in a single quarter.
Brands Diverged More Than the Category Did
When two brands in the same category move in opposite directions by this magnitude, the explanation is not consumer preference — it is shelf decisions. Ryobi, a Home Depot exclusive, held nearly flat at negative 2.9%. In the same quarter, Milwaukee dropped 65% and Skil fell over 90%.
That spread is too wide to be demand-driven. Ryobi's stability reflects its position as a Home Depot platform brand with protected shelf space. Milwaukee's and Skil's declines reflect assortment rationalization — SKUs pulled, shelf space reallocated, ranging decisions that show up in the data as brand-level declines but are actually retailer-level shelf management.
DeWalt and Craftsman (both Stanley Black & Decker) round out the competitive set. Makita remains Home Depot exclusive. Kobalt serves as Lowe's house brand.
The brand landscape in power drills is heavily retailer-exclusive. Ryobi, Milwaukee, and Makita are Home Depot only. Craftsman and Kobalt are Lowe's. That means a manufacturer's competitive set changes entirely depending on which retailer they are selling into — another reason why census-level, retailer-specific data matters.
Datavations tracks every SKU, every store, every sale across 11,936+ locations daily, giving manufacturers the ability to see share move at the brand, SKU, voltage, and state level — not weeks after the fact, but while there is still time to act.
Why Category Averages Are Dangerous in a Contraction
In a flat or growing market, averages are forgiving. A brand can lose a few SKUs and the topline still looks fine. In a contracting market, averages are dangerous. They mask the specific shelf decisions — a voltage exit, a brand delisting, a platform swap — that will shape the next four quarters.
Most teams find out a quarter late. The category trend looks "down a bit," everyone moves on, and the actual story is buried a level below. A panel estimate will not surface a single-SKU exit at one retailer. Only census-level intelligence — tracking every transaction at every store — catches the 12V exit at Home Depot or the Skil collapse before it shows up as a topline miss.
The category number tells you the weather. The granular data tells you where to stand.
How much share did Home Depot gain in power drills?
Home Depot gained 2.9 share points in power drills in Q1 2026, picking up ground even as the overall category contracted. The gains were driven by assortment and ranging decisions, not broad demand growth.
What happened to 12V power drills at Home Depot?
The 12V segment at Home Depot collapsed approximately 94% year over year in Q1 2026, effectively an assortment exit down to a handful of SKUs. The shelf space shifted toward 18V and the emerging 24V platform.
Which voltage platform is growing in power drills?
The 18V platform climbed from approximately 35% to 41% of category sales in Q1 2026, gaining 6 share points. The 24V segment also emerged as a meaningful new tier, while 12V dropped to roughly 4% of sales.
Why did Milwaukee and Skil decline so sharply?
Milwaukee dropped 65% and Skil fell over 90% in Q1 2026. These declines reflect retailer-level assortment decisions — SKU delistings and shelf reallocation — rather than broad consumer preference shifts. In the same period, Ryobi held nearly flat at negative 2.9%.
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