Channel Best-Sellers: Peripherals

Fujitsu closed 2006 with 29.1 percent market share on a U.S. dollar volume basis, according to The NPD Group/Distributor Track. The closest competitor was Hewlett-Packard, with 17.9 percent share, followed by Canon with 15.4 percent, Epson with 8.6 percent and Visioneer, which emerged as the fastest-growth best-seller by jumping to 7.8 percent share in 2006, up from 6.6 percent in 2005.

Partners say when it comes to supporting the channel, no company in this segment can match Fujitsu. They say Fujitsu's products, pricing and hand-in-hand partnership with the channel make the vendor best-in-class for document imaging and content management VARs.

"Fujitsu is absolutely at the top of the stack," said Scott Swidersky, director of the Information Systems Division at Quality Associates, a document imaging solution provider in Columbia, Md. "They cover the whole product range from low-volume to high-volume [scanning]. They have great service and business ethics with strong people running the business."

Swidersky said Fujitsu's 5900 model has been a sales generator. What's more, he said, Fujitsu has come through with a strong deal-registration program backed by systems and enforcement mechanisms to ensure that solution providers like Quality Associates won't have their pricing undercut by e-tailers and direct marketers.

The gains for Visioneer, meanwhile, come after the company snatched away Don McMahan, the architect of Fujitsu's channel program, along with one of his top lieutenants, Rusty James. "Visioneer has been a good partner to us as well," Swidersky said. "The Visioneer Patriot product line is very cost-competitive. We maintained the relationship when the senior execs went to Visioneer, and they shared with us their enthusiasm about capturing market share. When anyone comes to you with that much excitement about wanting to do something, why would you not want to be a part of it?"

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