On Jan. 6, Oki Data launched the MC860 series of MFPs. These MFPs have copy speeds of 26 pages per minute and can deliver A3, wide-format color MFP functionality with flexible media handling and high-definition (HD) color output. Of course they also print, copy, scan and fax up to tabloid-size media. One model is compact enough that it can sit on a desktop.

Oki Data has definitely seen a bump in the market, and according to Carl Taylor, director, product and industry marketing, Oki Data Americas, the company shipped about 4,000 color MFP units through solution providers in the last 12 months.

"We are seeing a trend in color MFPs in both the SMB and midmarket," said Taylor. "From a category standpoint, single function printers are flat in the market vs. color -- MFPs customers are asking for a broader product."

Vinny DiSpigno, CEO, of Holbrook, N.Y.-based Webistix, a Ricoh and Xerox reseller, agrees.

"In the last six months, I think the color MFP space is the hottest in printers, and monochrome has not been moving that much," he said. "At the price point and performance level for color MFPs, you're getting a lot more functionality for just a little more money.