Omnipresent HP romps home again
By Sandhya Malhotra
The last year could aptly be called the Year of the Laser as the market for laser printers grew by 13-14 percent even as the overall printer market grew by 6 percent. Industry pundits estimate that lasers alone will notch up revenues in excess of Rs 660 crore by the end of the current fiscal. Much of the growth in this space came at the expense of inkjet printers with all vendors, including HP, Samsung, Canon and Xerox, announcing entry-level boxes priced attractively.
Apart from large enterprises, lasers have found a new market among SMBs. Lasers are expected to retain similar growth patterns over the next couple of years with not only SMBs but also SOHOs going in for them. Realizing the new potential for lasers, all leading vendors in this segment are looking at greater penetration into B- and C-class cities. All the contenders to this space are rolling out aggressive marketing campaigns and channel strategies. With market researchers predicting a price war next year, there is a lot at stake for all players. While HP is the undisputed market leader in this space, Samsung, Canon and more recently Xerox are all making an aggressive bid for marketshare. This is one battle that will be fought almost entirely through the channel.
The views of most of the respondents we polled reflect the current market realities. While relatively recent entrants like Samsung and Canon receive ample recognition for their engagement with the channel, market leader HP emerged right on top, leaving behind Samsung by a clear margin with a larger number of respondents rooting for HP.
Service and support
While HP, with its vast geographical reach and localized service centers managed to edge out other contenders, our respondents in this category did acknowledge the efforts of Samsung and Canon, both of whom have made concrete attempts to improve their support to the channels. Samsung also won a couple of brownie points for providing onsite warranty. In advance replacement Samsung ran a close second to HP with Canon right at its heels. Turnaround time was where HP zoomed ahead, thanks once again to its nation-wide presence. But HP should have more competition in future with rivals looking for a wider geographical presence.
Channel relationship
This is an area where Samsung and Canon seem to be making serious efforts to interact directly with partners, while HP, possibly due to its wide presence, is trying to leverage online for various activities like training programs, chats and other forms of communication. Respondents rated Samsung a notch ahead of HP in channel friendliness, particularly because it aggressively took up warranty issues on behalf of partners with the regional distributors.
Marketing and branding
Respondents rated HP way above its competitors in terms of customer awareness, while Canon was considered the most active in terms of advertising initiatives and brand promotion activities. Samsung’s partner-orientation seem to have caught the eye of a section of resellers we polled. HP scored heavily on brand recall and end-customer related special offers, and edged out rivals only by a whisker.
Price-performance
Over the last three years, the prices of laser printers have come down drastically. All vendors have brought out a range of entry-level lasers. HP’s entry-level lasers start from a MOP of Rs 5,500, whereas Samsung’s MOP is Rs 4,000 and Canon’s Rs 7,000. Respondents to the survey rated HP high on product features, reliability and overall quality. But Samsung held a slight edge over both Canon and HP in terms of profit margins. On the technology profitability criterion, it was neck-to-neck again with Samsung and Canon closely trailing HP.
Intro
l Microprocessors l Hard Disk Drive l Flat Panel Display l Optical Disk Drives l Desktop l Anti-virus l Notebook l Inkjet Printers l Server l Networking l Enterprise Storage l Enterprise Security |