Last week I was among the press and analyst contingent at the Kyocera dealer meeting in Las Vegas (My recap is in this week’s issue.). There’s always a lot of news, big and small, going down at these meetings, and this one was no exception. What intrigued me was the abundance of apps that Kyocera has been rolling out over the past two years. Yes, other OEMs are doing the same, but this is what happened last week and it’s front and center for me right now.
For those keeping track, Kyocera introduced 12 new apps last year and this year added another 12 to their menu of apps. One might say Kyocera has become app crazy, but that’s okay. In the office imaging space where hardware the differences in hardware can sometimes be difficult to discern (I know the folks at BLI will beg to differ on that count.), differentiators such as apps are becoming the great enablers for selling hardware.
The message seems to be resonating with some Kyocera dealers—generally speaking their larger dealers. However, for some smaller dealers and dealers in smaller markets, Kyocera still has some explaining to do to ensure that those folks understand that there’s an opportunity in SMBs and down the street accounts, plus there’s a way to make money from these apps even it’s as an enabler to sell more hardware.
That’s the task that all OEMs who are expanding the capabilities of their devices with new and exciting apps have in front of them. From what I understand, there’s going to be lots of training and explaining going on at least in the Kyocera dealer channel. The challenge is making sure that those dealers with smaller accounts and those trying to figure out how to turn those apps into dollars end up with a better understanding of the big picture when it comes to apps.
Thanks for reading.
