Konica’s Forecast Miss Sparks Wider Reckoning for Copier Industry

Ray Stasieczko’s analysis of Konica Minolta’s losses highlights a growing credibility gap between marketing promises and field realities.

By Celeste Dame

Special to The Wall Street Journal

In an industry historically driven by hardware specs and service contracts, a growing sense of disillusionment is spreading among front-line sales professionals. Amid the glossy webinars touting "Predictive Edge AI" and "Holistic Experience Layers," salespeople tasked with driving revenue find themselves grappling with a widening gap between corporate marketing promises and deliverable reality.

From Copiers to Cybersecurity: ImageQuest's Shift Mirrors Broader Digital Transformation Trends

Written by Grayson Patrick Trent

Nashville-based ImageQuest, once a conventional copier dealership, made a sharp pivot to managed IT services in the early 2010s, a move that positioned it ahead of an industry undergoing rapid collapse. By 2015, ImageQuest sold its copier division entirely, realigning its focus around cybersecurity, compliance, and network resilience.

Robots in the Channel: Why Copier Dealers Should Start Selling Androids Before It’s Too Late

 

By Greg Walters

It started like any other Friday livestream. Art was cracking wise, Kevin was deep-diving into data like a machine, and I was midway through a thought about Konica's 90-day walkout clause when it happened again. One of us mentioned a humanoid robot twitching on a meat hook. Another brought up water-powered muscle fibers. Suddenly, we were off.