Broadway aficionados and people of a certain age will remember the musical “Annie, Get Your Gun” with its catchy, if sometimes annoying closing tune, “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)” first performed by Ethel Mermen and Ray Middleton. A nod to one-upmanship, the song has since been co-opted countless times, including the 2021 Gatorade commercial featuring soccer player Abby Wambach and Jamaican sprinter extraordinaire Usain Bolt.
The competition ballad could certainly apply to the world of office technology equipment, although don’t expect rapper Jelly Roll to voice the A3 in a battle against Lady Gaga’s A4. But in this month’s State of the Industry report on A3 and A4 devices, we sought to find out what innovations have lifted the latter into a closer race against the former. Not that there is a race, but it’s interesting to note the shift toward A4 that began pre-pandemic and has continued in the distributed workforce age. Some would argue that the trend’s momentum has slowed.
The question is simple: Outside of producing the seldom-used 11×17” sheet, is there anything the A3 can do better than the A4? For Chip Miceli, CEO of Pulse Technology in Schaumburg, Illinois, the answer is definitely no.
“A4 product does everything that an A3 can,” he stated. “The A4 has a robust document feeder, the cost is less than an A3 and dependability is better because of fewer moving parts.”
One of the drivers for A4, notes Robert Woodhull, vice president of business development for Woodhull LLC of Springboro, Ohio, is the effective combination with print, copy and scan management software such as PaperCut Hive.
“PaperCut software has really helped with A4 placement in our accounts,” he said. “PaperCut Hive, in particular, because of the accessibility to monitoring that it provides for both office and remote workers. We think it’s imperative that we don’t just add devices into an environment without some sort of policy and program to reinforce the cost savings and the visibility you want to have.”
Much of the growth enjoyed by Centriworks of Nashville, Tennessee, is driven by the concerted marketing and sales approach with prospects, notes Mark DeNicola, CFO/CSO for the dealer. Going wider with existing customers has also proved profitable.
“We have also been relatively successful in placing more equipment into some clients, growing our business within the accounts as they grow their business,” he said.
A4 Unicorn?
In addition to volume considerations, one of the bigger points of separation has been A3’s ability to provide certain finishing chores. One such example of an A4 with post-printing capabilities is the HP Color LaserJet Enterprise MFP X677z+, notes Josh Britton, president of imageOne in Oak Park, Michigan. Various machines in the X677 family include a three-bin stapler/stacker, or a floor-standing finisher with edge stapling and hole punch. While this model is more of the exception than the rule, it may open the door for future units in environments where the output is 2,500 images per month or less, which he believes to be the tipping point.
For some dealers, the balance of A3 and A4 has not shifted markedly. This includes Solutions YES in Portland, Oregon, where President Sean Bell feels the ratio has remained relatively static.
“We’ve had our customers’ A4 business for a long time,” he said. “We’re not seeing a drastic increase in A4 placements.”
