What Office Equipment Dealers Are Saying About Current and Anticipated Print Behavior

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• Table of Contents (5 pages)
• List of Figures (1)

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Abstract

This IDC Market Perspective looks at what office equipment dealers are saying about current and anticipated print behavior. IDC, in cooperation with the Business Technology Association, polled dealers on print volumes and general print behavior witnessed in their customer base. While the sample was small at 23 responses, we believe the content offers a unique market perspective as dealers can speak to trends that are observing across their entire clientele. The response reinforced key themes that IDC has been analyzing since the COVID-19 pandemic period initiated substantial change in how work is done and the evolving role of copy/print technology stemming from this new market dynamic. The poll was short and specifically addressed:

• What has been the typical page volume directional change for an average customer of your over the past two years? What do you expect this directional change to be for an average customer of yours over the next two years?
• What is the current mix of color output versus black-and-white output on the color MFPs installed in your customer locations? What do you expect this mix to be in two years?
• What percentage of current office copy/print jobs in your customer locations require any finishing (e.g., hole punch, stapling, folding)?
• Given the changes in copy/print page volumes anticipated in the future, please indicate the level of interest you have in considering an alternative business model (e.g., more services oriented) versus the established "click" business model (scale of 1 to 5, with 1 = no interest and 5 = very high interest).
• Which top 3 vertical markets generated the most copy/print volumes in your customer base from early 2020 through today? What are the top 3 vertical markets you expect to generate the most copy/print volumes in your customer base in two years?
• Which three vertical markets showed the most growth of copy/print volumes in your customer base from early 2020 through today? Which three vertical markets will show the strongest growth of copy/print volumes in your customer base in two years?
• Which three vertical markets showed the greatest decline in copy/print volumes in your customer base from early 2020 through today? Which three vertical markets will show the greatest decline in copy/print volumes in your customer base in two years?

"This analysis offers a new perspective on 'hot button' printing trends. We examine the office equipment dealer channel's viewpoint of directional print volume trends, the color/monochrome page mix, finishing, interest in a print services business model, and identifying key vertical market opportunities," said Keith Kmetz, program vice president, Imaging, Printing, and Document Solutions Research at IDC. "The channel focus on these critical market developments provides the value of enabling dealers to speak to what they have observed across their customer base and provide insights from multiple end-user customer contacts."

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