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Office Colour – Accelerating Demand and Maximising Profits

#Pages: 150+
Publication Date: November 2005
Service: Digital Peripherals Solutions - Europe
Region: Europe, United States

Introduction

Colour is the crucial driver of growth in today’s maturing office document market. InfoTrends' analysis indicates that black & white page office volume in North America and Western Europe is currently peaking and will decline throughout the second half of the decade. Vendors need to accelerate demand for colour output devices and stimulate usage levels to generate revenue growth of office printing and copying equipment and supplies.

Office equipment manufacturers also need new sources of pages since many general office documents remain in electronic format. The most likely source is to capture jobs that are traditionally printed in production environments. Many of these documents (i.e. brochures, flyers, direct mail, newsletters, pamphlets, and other marketing collaterals) are produced in colour. Nevertheless, these documents also demand greater print quality, better paper, and more finishing requirements than traditional general office printing jobs. Vendors need solutions that enable pages to migrate into the office.

With all office equipment manufacturers focusing most of their product development investments on new colour engines, imaging materials, and substrates, InfoTrends expects to see dramatic improvements in speed, quality, and costs of office colour equipment. New colour products are changing the economics of office printing and copying.

Despite these technology improvements, many customers still view colour as a specialized application for select jobs where the additional expense can be justified. Vendors need to offer much more targeted solutions and marketing techniques that focus on specific industries, departments, and applications. Ultimately, vendors need to convince customers that office colour devices are appropriate for all of their office and marketing documents.

InfoTrends believes that colour presents a critical window of opportunity that can enable office equipment vendors and distributors to gain share and establish new sources of revenue in an increasingly competitive market. This study provides companies with in-depth research and analysis to guide their product development, pricing, marketing, and distribution strategies.

Project Objectives

This study will answer many of the critical questions that are currently facing your organization in terms of product development, sales, and marketing initiatives.

• What is necessary to make colour mainstream among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and the large/corporate offices?
• What trade-offs do document owners face when deciding to output in colour vs.
  black & white?
• What trade-offs do purchase decision makers face when deciding to buy colour vs. black & white office equipment?
• What is the optimal product design and pricing model for different market segments?
• What are the most lucrative vertical markets and applications for office colour?
• How can we shift production colour pages to workgroup products?
• What opportunities exist for inkjet and laser-based products? For printer-based and copier-based products?
• To what extent will colour page volume and revenue compensate for declining
  black & white volume?

Who Should Subscribe

• Equipment Manufacturers/Vendors
  • Copier
  • Printer
  • Multifunction
  • Facsimile
  • Scanner
• Software Solution Vendors
• Dealers
• Supplies Manufacturers/Vendors

Project Deliverables

InfoTrends will conduct extensive analysis of the desk research, personal interviews, and surveys conducted to develop a comprehensive understanding of the opportunities and issues for document technology and service providers. Clients will receive a combination of reports, presentation material, and research data for senior management personnel, product managers and planners, and sales and marketing executives. The material will include:

• An executive summary that addresses key issues, findings, and
  overall recommendations
• A detailed written report (at least 150 pages) with text, charts, and graphs addressing the objectives of the study
• A set of presentation-style overheads for internal communication of the
  research results
• A data book of the survey tabulations for additional analysis of key questions and market segments
• Conjoint analysis
• A 2-hour teleconference presentation of the general findings and recommendations

Getting Started

For more information on this study or to sign up as a participant, contact Jason Russell at + or via e-mail at . Early subscriber discounts are available until August 1, 2005.