Channel Best-Sellers: Peripherals That Matter

Color Laser Printers

Perennial favorite Hewlett-Packard took top marks in the color laser printer market again, coming in as both the best-selling and the fastest-growing manufacturer, according to data from the NPD Group/Distributor Track.

HP held a 57.5 percent dollar volume share, up 2.7 percent from a 54.8 percent share last year.

Last year's fastest-growing color laser printer manufacturer, Oki Data, saw a reversal of fortune as it exited the LFR market after falling 3.8 percent, and began its strategic reinvestment in the channel to drive more profitable growth.

The NPD research tracks the dollar volume of color laser printers sold through certain distributors.

Xerox and Lexmark came in second and third, with a 24.2 and an 8.7 percent market share, respectively. Xerox was down 1.8 percent, while Lexmark grew its share by 1.7 percent.

For VARs selling color laser printers, HP's quality and reputation keep it in the top spot time and again.

"We've had fabulous luck with the HP printers in general. With the laser printers, they have such a long-standing reputation for quality and reliability. They moved into the color print market, and I always saw them delivering the same consistency even in that space," said Tommy Wald, president and CEO of Riata Technologies, a solution provider and MSP based in Austin, Texas.

However, sometimes customers do make requests, or a particular solution will be a better fit depending on which vertical market they're in, he said. Lexmark, for example, has quality business solutions for document management, health care and the legal vertical market. "They probably have better solutions from a business perspective in certain areas," he said.

-- Jennifer Lawinski

Color Laser Printer 1st half 2007 Market Share Market Share Change 1st half '07 vs. 1st half '06 Hewlett-Packard 57.50% +2.7 Xerox 24.20% -1.8 Lexmark 8.70% +1.7 Okidata 3.80% -3.8 Ricoh 3% +0.6 * Ranking based on 1st half 2007 share of sales dollar volume. Highlighted vendor gained greatest share from 1st half 2006 to 1st half 2007 Source: The NPD Group/Distribution Track (Incudes GTDC Data), www.npd.com/lps/distributortrack