Channel Best-Sellers: Peripherals

The vendor claimed 60.4 percent of the U.S. dollar volume in 2006, up 0.5 percentage points from its 2005 share of 59.9 percent. That was almost triple the market share of second-place Xerox, which held a 22.5 percent share in 2006. The NPD research tracks the dollar volume of color lasers sold through certain distributors, including Global Technology Distribution Council members.

While fourth in the ranking on the basis of market share, printer manufacturer Oki Data was the top-growth best-seller, the data shows. It logged a 0.6 percentage point increase, from 5.7 percent to 6.3 percent. The top five in the color laser printer category were rounded out by Lexmark, with a 6.5 percent share, and Ricoh, with 1.8 percent. Both HP and Ricoh grew by 0.5 percentage points, while Lexmark increased by 0.2 points. Xerox was the only one to lose ground, slipping by 0.8 percentage points.

Solution providers say name recognition and the needs of the small-business market help keep HP in the foreground when selling color laser printers, and Oki Data's pricing has helped it grow.

Bob Cloutier, general manager of ProTech Computer Systems, Denver, said Oki Data's printers have a better price point for his small-business customers, but he has a tough time selling against HP's brand recognition.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to sell peripherals when making hardware sales, such as adding printers to the solution when a customer buys a computer, has been a sales driver for Heartland Technology Solutions, Harlan, Iowa. For Jane Cage, owner and COO, the key to making that sale is keeping the pitch simple.

"For most small-business people, unless you're serving a graphics market, I really don't think our customers compare the quality of one print copy to another," Cage said. "They want to print a report with some color in it or be able to print some marketing materials on demand. Those are the kinds of things they're looking for a printer to do."

Next: Document Scanners