Art Post
2012 a not so good year for the MFP copier industry or a good year for the MFP copier industry. I’m thinking that most will answer a not so good year at least for the industry as a whole. I guess the biggest question that will need to be answered in 2013 is related to Sharp. Will Sharp continue as it once was, or will they be forced to sell off divisions to remain in business? Lately there’s been a little good news with the investment from QUALCOMM.
Another question is how many more dealers will make the jump to managed services and will managed services live up to the hype? Anyone you slice it I can see that 2013 will be another year of change in an industry that is in turmoil.
Last year we posted this blog Top Ten MFP & Copier Predictions for 2012, and it seems we got a few of these right such as:
- Kodak files for Bankruptcy or is bought
- Ricoh USA finally comes clean and announces that Ricoh Corp USA is headquartered in Malvern, PA
- Managed Print Services…the hype continues
- Xerox announces additional layoffs in the U.S.
- USA MFP Copier manufacturer sees the introduction of the first A4 Segment 5 MFP (Lexmark MX812 & there was also an announcement of an HP 70-ppm color A4 device for 2013)
Five out of 10 are not so bad since some of the predictions are off the wall and meant to be lighthearted.
Without further ado listed below are our Top Ten MFP Predictions for 2013:
- Sharp Corporation (Japan) turns it around in 2013, however they have to spin off additional divisions, including the copier division
- Samsung yearning for additional dealers buys Sharp’s copier division
- Konica Minolta continues to buy IT-related companies and snaps up Auxilio (major MPS provider for healthcare) and OMG their stock is down to 98 cents a share
- Managed Print Services equals the hype is over and now it’s BPS or BPC (Business Process Solutions or Business Process Consulting)
- More office equipment dealers will turn to Managed Network Services
- A copier/printer manufacturer launches the first black Segment 6 A4 MFP device
- Canon and Océ lay off thousands with additional integration
- HP flops again with introduction of 70-ppm color MFP aka HP Officejet Pro X
- Toshiba launches their own A3 segment 4 Color Ink MFP (with Memjet print head)
- Okidata purchases Lexmark
Some of these are meant to be lighthearted and have no chance of coming true, so please consider that most of this is entertainment. You can be the judge of which one(s) will come to fruition in 2013. Above all I wish all our readers a wonderful holiday season, a healthy and happy new year and just maybe we’ll have a better year in 2013!
BTW, here’s the links for previous predictions: Top Ten MFP Copier Predictions for 2011, Top Ten MFP Copier Predictions for 2010, Top Ten MFP Copier Predictions for 2009
Good selling!
