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?