Study finds HP clear winner as enterprises embrace color imaging

According to ZDNet Research, 38 percent of organizations surveyed have migrated to high-end specialized equipment primarily for color imaging.

ZDNet surveyed over 400 enterprises to get a handle on the how printing technology is viewed in terms of IT infrastructure, including how much the demand for color versus monochrome printing is changing, the timing of migrations to new technology, and the degree to which document imaging and production is outsourced (we investigated other areas as well but are limiting this review to only these aspects). Here is a breakdown by size of the companies that participated in the study:

• 45% of organizations surveyed have less than 100 employees
• 25% have 100 to 999 employees
• 30% have 1,000 or more employees

We may tend to think of printers as mundane tools when in fact those in the know see printers as a key element of productivity, one that is kept in-house and is increasingly high-tech. Our study shows that while most organizations are still using basic printing equipment, 38% have migrated to high-end specialized equipment (a sizeable jump compared with printer practices in 2002 when our research showed that only 18% of organizations used high-end equipment).

Nearly one-third of our participants report that color printing volumes rose by up to 25% over the past year, and for 25% of our enterprises the demand has grown by as much as 50%. But the overall need for customized document production is growing, too.

Forty percent of those we surveyed indicate that customizable document imaging equipment will play an important to extremely important role in sustaining their business operations over the next 12 to 24 months.

Vendor Picks
As part of our study, we asked participants to reveal which vendors they would choose if they were charged with buying printing equipment today for color and monochrome solutions.

It appears that among our sample, HP is the clear winner for color and monochrome printers. Xerox has a solid showing in color printers but lags far behind HP. Lexmark is the 2nd most preferred vendor for monochrome equipment but is clustered in a 2nd tier along with Xerox and Canon.

Preferences play out in the news
But are IT decision makers actually checking out these vendors with the level of intensity that befits their rank in our study? To answer this question, we turned to BT Trax and our enterprise IT sites to see just which vendors are capturing the most attention from prospective technology buyers. Across the board, HP has the lion.s share of printer news interest.twice that of its nearest competitor, Dell. The other vendors claim substantially less interest compared to HP and Dell, in some cases only one-fiftieth the interest. Note, though, that Lexmark may be under-represented in this analysis since Lexmark supplies printers to companies such as Dell and IBM (Lexmark is the #2 printer manufacturer in the United States).

Color or monochrome: HP and Xerox lead the market
So how do the printer vendors stack up in the marketplace? IDC estimates the 2003 worldwide printer market at just over $19 billion dollars from some 74 million units shipped (IDC Report #32090, October 2004). Monochrome laser printers account for roughly $8.2 billion dollars and color lasers $2.9 billion (42% and 15% of the total market, respectively). HP claims the largest slice of the printer pie: HP is the number one vendor in monochrome and color laser printers, in both total shipments and value of shipments. HP enjoys a 52% share in the total value of monochrome laser units shipped and about a 36% share of value of color laser shipments. Xerox rings in a distant second in the monochrome market segment with an 8% share of the value of shipments but fares much better in the color laser market with a 25% share.

Overall, the world market for printers over the next five years looks promising, too. Through 2008, IDC forecasts around a 1% revenue shrinkage in black and white laser equipment (though total shipments will increase by 1%), but this slight decline will be substantially offset by a 9% CAGR in value of shipments for color laser printers. All in all, still a rosy picture for printer manufacturers, large and small.