Mason Olds laid out the ground rules from the very beginning of the Canon Dealer Summit that took place at the Omni Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, from June 19-21. One, attendees were there to learn—that cannot be disputed, as Canon provided a menu of learning tracks that covered sales, solutions, production and service, which cumulatively ranged between six and nine hours each. These were hardly breakout sessions; attendees were divided into individual teams who were immersed in hands-on workshops.
Secondly—and Olds, Canon U.S.A.’s executive vice president of the Business Information Communications Group, could not stress it enough as he addressed 325 guests in the County Music Hall of Fame Theater, co-located within the hotel—“we can’t bail you out of jail.” It was a gentle reminder that despite the raucous and rollicking fun that awaited visitors to nearby Broadway, teaming with dive bars, live music, cowboy boots and hats galore (not to mention insanely priced beverages), Canon U.S.A. sought to create a mutual learning environment of sharing and collaborating while gaining insight into the tools and resources that can enable the 90-odd dealer resellers to more effectively peddle the CUSA line.
The “Las Vegas of the South” experience, as Olds termed it, represented the second Summit of the year for Canon U.S.A., the first being in the real Las Vegas back in May, which saw attendees representing about 65 dealers. During his 15-minute presentation to kick off the event, which carried the theme “Beyond the Boundaries,” Olds pointed out Canon enjoyed net sales of $30 billion in FY2022, of which $9.3B came from the Americas, accounting for 31.1% of the overall pie. Global net income checked in at $1.8B, and he noted it was higher than Canon’s three main competitors combined.
In comparing Canon U.S.A. to its top tier one competitors—Ricoh, Konica Minolta and Xerox—Olds pointed out that Canon is twice the size of Ricoh, it’s closest competitor. He also noted that Canon has been more profitable each year from 2020-2022 in relation to the trio of OEMs.
Olds reported that Canon is the top performer in the production sector with 32% market share, bolstered by the sale of more than 1,000 imagePRESS V family units in under a year. In the A3 MFP laser market, Canon took the top spot in 2022 with 23% market share.
In terms of 2022 market share in the wide-format sector, Olds illustrated how Canon is number two in the market behind HP, and he relishes the challenge of unseating CUSA’s competitor. “If I were HP, I’d be a little nervous. We’re coming after them on the wide-format side,” he noted.
Trends and Opportunities
Randy Dazo, chief strategy and product officer for Keypoint Intelligence, provided a presentation on thriving in the post-pandemic era. Dazo gave an overview of trends that are taking place in the market as well as feedback from the office equipment dealer channel, and how CUSA solutions could be leveraged to the dealers’ advantage. He noted the industry lost more than 50% of printed pages during 2020 and 2021, but output is slowly returning to the office environment.
From the hybrid office to chip and product shortages that followed, Dazo discussed how the industry has been shaped by internal and external influences, from the needs of hybrid and remote workers to the growing scourge of cyberattacks, inflation and recession threats, as well as the shift to the cloud and the growing influence of digital transformation. But there were many positives, from the growth in remote conferencing tools to ecommerce solutions and robotic process automation. Dazo is intrigued by how AI technologies, including generative AI, may play a role in enhancing business.
Product Showcase
Complementing the four-tiered educational platform was a product showcase awash in the latest CUSA offerings. These included the gratis PosterArtist online design platform for small-format printing of marketing materials and other collateral. Its variable data printing capabilities make it ideal for educational applications. Other booths included on-demand label printing solutions courtesy of the LX-P5510 and LX-D5500, boasting 1200×1200 resolution. The venerable Colorado M series of wide-format printers uses UV gel that doesn’t evaporate or clog print heads. In terms of upcoming releases, Canon’s Cloud Connector is slated for a release in the second half of 2023.
The popular AMLOS (Activate My Line of Sight) was a popular showcase attraction. The conferencing tool leverages software and a single camera that can be controlled by hand gestures to send high-res video stream to remote users. It allows meeting attendees to customize their viewing experience via PTZ (pan, tilt and zoom) functionality. AMLOS has proven to be a hit beyond the limits of the imaging community, with the technology having been showcased by Hollywood luminaries such as Joseph Gordon Levitt and M. Night Shyamalan in presentations at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
In a change of pace from the traditional ink-on-paper solutions, Canon also demonstrated its dirt-off-floor Whiz robotic vacuum. The little guy was scooting along the showcase floor, maneuvering around attendees’ feet.
