Printer Market Q4 2008: News That Isn't Fit To Print

By Michele Masterson, ChannelWeb
2:35 PM EDT Mon. Mar. 16, 2009

The combined market for printers, copiers and multifunction devices continued its downward spiral in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a new report.

Once again, the sour economy is blamed for the decrease, as both the consumer and the professional market shunned purchases.

In total, combined shipments fell 5.9 percent in 2008, compared with 2.9 percent growth in 2007, researchers at Gartner said.

Worse still, analysts said they don't expect the market to recover until sometime in 2010 as economic uncertainty continues.

"The strong economic recession that is gripping the most mature markets showed its impact on the printer, copier and MFP industry in North America during the fourth quarter," Gartner said in a report released last week. "Businesses put the brakes on major purchases, a trend not likely to improve in the next several quarters."

In North America, deceleration in the professional segment of the market led to a 25.3 percent sales decline of page printers, copiers and MFPs during the quarter, as both businesses and channels slowed purchases.

Shipments of page printers declined 28.5 percent during the quarter, led by a 29.9 percent drop in monochrome devices and 23.5 percent in color units.

"Some of this volume is clearly coming under pressure from a tight economy, where typical three-year replacement cycles are being extended," Gartner noted.

Color page printer shipments have decreased for three consecutive quarters, Gartner said.

ITEX - 09: MPS, MPS, MPS - Training, Tools, Marketing - Did I mention MPS?

Managed Print Services - Come on in the water's fine. Everybody's doing it.

Fresh back from the Vegas show, here are some of the most memorable quotes heard by me, on the floor.

"MPS is the new Black"

"We can help you service HPs and Samsung, Konica, Oki, ..."

"With MPS, you don't pursue the equipment sale you go after the clicks"

"We've been training MPS for years..."

"...it is not important who you pick to partner with, just pick one and go sell..."

"...your sales rep...won't need to do anything but run our tool, and the proposal with pricing and content, will be produced..." translation, "...with our program, any MONKEY can sell MPS..."

But, the number one, best quote of the show is...I mean not even Xerox has the hubris to say something like this:

"...this(Managed Print) is nothing new to us, we have been doing Managed Print for 20 years. We have the lowest cost, the best infrastructure, the sales process, the commission structure, marketing programs, monitoring tools, leasing, training programs to take a dealer from no MPS to full speed, 3 million managed images, in 90 days..."

oh, really? And I have never heard of your company, because....?

Because I don't resell "knock off" toner.

Because I don't believe the price and deliver time of supplies is the primary consideration in any MPS engagement.

Because a MPS talk track should not include,

"...the cornerstone of any Managed Print Program is the quality of the print cartridge..." LOL!

Because my definition of MPS includes supplies management as component of an engagement not the total engagement.
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This hearkens back to the definition of MPS.

I am a believer that any "buzz" even mis-guided and inaccurate "buzz" is a good thing.

The fact that so many people are pitching MPS infrastructure and that so many potential dealers are considering moving into MPS is a very good thing.

It's A Parade of Chaos

We are all heading in the same direction for now - getting MPS programs off the ground - like a homecoming parade. Everybody knows the parade will end up at the school. But although the theme is consistent, the floats are incongruous and each band member is playing off of different sheet music.

A cacophony of colliding philosophies, programs and tools - in a word "noise".

But this movement could be bigger than the pager to cell phone movement, the postal to fax movement, the analogue to digital conversion, or the A3 to A4.

For the dealers, sorting through this will be difficult and risky - but it must be done.

Click to email me.

Is Your Product Offering Like a Cold Cup of Coffee?

I would like to introduce, another guest poster, Ken Stewart, from ChangeForge. Ken has a keen eye for customer relationships, business processes, and sales, from both the "copier" and "IT" perspectives.

I am honored to have his work posted here.

Enjoy:

It's Monday morning and you are rounding out your morning routine by getting into the office, powering up the ole' laptop, and deciding by royal proclamation, "It's time for coffee." You make your way down the hall and pass a few offices as you waive to some of your co-workers.

You make your way into the company break room and smell that wonderfully cheap smell of corporate coffee. Not Starbucks' or Seattle's Best, but it's free, right?

You pour a slow cup while idly conversing with another corporate suit about the weekend happenings, all the while deciding which flavor of the Coffee-Mate you want to gamble on making this steely brew drinkable today.

You walk back to your office, cup in hand, and get pulled into 1 or 2 ad hoc and impromptu meetings someone just had to have you weigh in on. It might have been the Sunday's game or that latest promotion (can you believe it?), all serving to slow your return to your now-ready computer.

Sitting in your chair, place your coffee cup on your desk, and saddle up to read the morning volley of e-mail exchanges over the weekend. Suddenly, the boss needs to speak with you, steps in, and closes the door (you know this is going to be a ride).

Thirty minutes later, your boss stands, shakes your hand, and leaves to go on with his day. Now that you have put his mind at ease that everything is under control, you reach for your coffee, pull it to your lips, and find it cold and lifeless.

"Blehhh!", you think. "Cold corporate coffee is worthless."

So you hike back to the break room and with a flick of the wrist, wash the foul brew down the drain - only to return to the same pot to pour another cup.

Notice a few things here:

1. The coffee is part of the routine.


2. It needs a lot of help to perform as expected.


3. There is no price, thus no value.


4. There is no thought in simply discarding it should it not meet expectations.

Much like corporate coffee, you have positioned your product to carry no intrinsic value. Have you instead all but given it away and continue to pander to your customer's whims while not seeking a solution to their problems, nor empathizing with their pain?

Well then, you can expect to carry the same value as the cup of cold corporate coffee I throw away and never drink. I pay roughly $4.50 for a medium-sized latte in most establishments. Crazy or not, the point is I almost always finish the entire cup - hot or cold. Why do you think that is?

1. The coffee is not part of a routine, but part of a ritual of enjoyment.


2. It exceeds expectations just about every time.


3. The price is quite high, and thus it carries a lot of value.


4. I will work with the Barrista to make right any deficiencies - so I will leave satisfied and with a product, I will enjoy.

This is simply food for thought on how you might make your product offerings better than just a cold cup of corporate coffee.

Did you have any?

Managed Print Services Jobs: Requests Going Through the Roof?

Wow! Check out this graph. It reflects the number of job openings with "managed print services" in the description.

managed Print services Job Trends

managed Print services jobs

Managed Print Services Association: See Your Future, Be Your Future

Evolution is a wonderful thing, even if it is inevitable. As those of us take pleasure in bantering about the "definition and re-definition of MPS" it becomes more evident that a single, unifying force, other than gravity, is called for.

Visionaries see this, critics - criticize, yet men(and women) of destiny, take action.

And so it is with the Managed Print Services Association forming with the help of the Photizo Group.

A bold endeavor to be sure, but we don't run from history, we make it.

Ed felt as though he was going out on a limb with his announcement of such a group. Indeed, in the first round of attention given to the association, on the MSP Mentor forums, arm-chair challenges and the veiled snobbery of the "intelligentsia" greeted the news.


Ed's post, Why Now Is The Right Time for a Managed Print Services Association is here.

Here is one passage I like:

"...One question that may be asked is why doesn’t another group (such as the Business Technology Association or COMPTIA) form an MPS Association. While this could be possible, I believe most of these groups have an existing constituency with their own set of pre-existing motivations, member preferences, and requirements. The MPS industry is unique in that it draws from a very broad base across the technology, reseller, and end user community. As such, I believe it would benefit from the formation of a new organization which does not have an existing charter or direction..."


...Only time will tell...

Managed Print Services to Double: Dude, Let's go to Asia.

Managed print services to double in Asia Pacific

In an article released by CIO Asia, the Asian market for MPS is predicted to be $825 million in 2011.

This according to a recent study conducted by Springboard - the study titled, "Dude, Where's My Printer - Asia Pacific Managed Print Services Market and Forecast".

Who says MPS researchers don't have a sense of humor.

The article is here.

Some excerpts:


"...In the MPS competitive landscape, HP is the clear leader with a dominant market presence in the region, followed by Fuji-Xerox, which has "leveraged its robust set of MPS offerings and a strong partner ecosystem to strengthen its regional presence," says Springboard's report.

Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) will remain as the largest MPS market in the region, cornering over 25 per cent of the market and expanding at a CAGR of 19.3 per cent to 2012. Springboard says that, while India is behind China and ASEAN in overall market size, India is forecast to be the fastest growing market a compound annual growth rate of 22.6 per cent.

"These robust growth figures indicate not just a vibrant MPS marketplace, but they also reflect the emergence of MPS as the best growth bet for the print hardware vendors in the region, who have seen a decline of hardware sales amidst the economic slowdown," said Sanchit Vir Gogia, senior research analyst for services at Springboard Research.

"Enterprises in the region are eager to test and adopt the 'next level' of printing environment, presenting the MPS vendors with a growth opportunity in a difficult economic situation," said Mr. Gogia...

"The MPS model is still in its infancy in Asia Pacific and enterprises in the region need to be educated that this is much more than an alternative print hardware purchase model," said Phil Hassey, vice president for services at Springboard Research. "The challenge for providers is to ensure they manage MPS offerings prices and offer solutions as a long-term strategy, providing immediate and successful results for enterprises."
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