Technology Trends

This year’s Annual Dealer Survey reveals a thriving industry despite the challenges of the past three years.

These are the highlights from Part II of our 38th Annual Dealer Survey.

After expanding the number of concerns to 13 two years ago in our Annual Dealer Survey, we found that a handful of them stood out from the rest, with only a small percentage of dealers selecting some of the other options among the choices.

A year ago, the overall A3 MFP ratings for the Big Six A3 OEMs plummeted to their lowest ever (4.0), which we attributed to fallout from the pandemic and supply chain issues.

The A4 MFP ratings in comparison to the A3 ratings are still lower, which is likely a reflection of the supply chain issues of last year when A4 took a backseat to the higher margin A3 products in terms of where OEMs were devoting available resources.

When tabulating dealers’ ratings of their leasing partners, we only include those companies that have been identified by 25 or more dealers as their primary leasing partner. For the third consecutive year, five leasing companies reached that figure.

AAs one would expect in the production print manufacturer ratings, the majority of dealers who selected the Best Production Print Manufacturer voted for their primary A3 provider.

For the past 10 years, we have asked dealers to identify which software provider offers the products and support that allows them to compete the most effectively. 

After a four-year hiatus, we are once again publishing dealer meeting ratings.

President & CEO Sam Errigo discusses initiatives that will accelerate Konica Minolta’s growth for the next 150 years.

Frank G. Cannata recaps the Ricoh Partner Summit, identifying the company’s recent financial performance, vision for the future, and key new products in the pipeline.

Even though not everything discussed at HP Imagine 2023 was relevant to The Cannata Report’s office technology dealer audience, it was fascinating to hear about the company’s latest innovations, even if it was a consumer product or a product designed for a specific industry.

HP Imagine 2023 kicked off with HP, Inc. President & CEO Enrique Lores identifying three key trends inspiring the company to develop the various solutions that would be discussed throughout the day, many of which were also on display at the Innovation Showcase.

Konica Minolta’s MFP production bases have achieved 100% renewable energy across all overseas sites and the company has revised its goal of reducing CO2 emissions in its own product lifecycle from 80% to 100% by 2050.

Flat-rate billing is a better way of billing for MPS, but it has struggled to catch on with most office technology dealers.

GreatAmerica Financial Services understands that an evolving office technology industry requires finance programs flexible enough to change along with it.

KPAX software has a growing ecosystem and a promising future across multiple channels.

Canon’s financial results for the first half of 2023 (January–June) showed a 6.1% increase in sales to 1.99 trillion yen compared to the same period the previous year.

There’s still a future in the print industry if you change wisely and speedily.

Dustin Graupman, senior director of Kyocera’s new Ink Jet Division, aims to raise the company’s inkjet profile.

Industrial print represents a multi-billion-dollar market. Here’s how dealers with the appropriate resources can get started.

Since last June, Frank has been interviewing dealers about their production print initiatives, focusing on how they got started, their production print partners, and how they’ve become successful in this segment.

The higher end the machine, the more specialized knowledge is required to sell it.

Frank Mallozzi contends that it’s time for dealers to reexamine their preconceptions about the viability of these higher-end product segments.

HP’s Kobi Elbaz shares multiple examples of how the company has its partner’s best interests in mind with its existing and future partner programs.