Network Laser Printers: Hewlett-Packard

When it comes to network laser printers, Hewlett-Packard for years has held onto the top spot in market share—consistently logging in more than 50 percent of worldwide printer shipments.

But volume alone doesn’t win over the hearts and minds of solution providers, who are often the first phone call a customer makes when a printer goes down or needs servicing. And that is the reason why HP has also been a consistent winner in the Channel Champions network laser printer category.

Solution providers surveyed by CRN gave HP a wide, wide 11.3-point margin of victory over runner-up Xerox in the area of product reliability and an equally impressive 10.8-point margin in serviceability.

“HP does an extremely good job with what they do,” said Neil Medwed, president of Preferred Computer Systems, a Richard, Texas-based solution provider and HP partner.

Medwed said his phone rings far less for servicing HP printers than it does for servicing other vendors’ products, and when it does, HP is quick to provide standard, easy-to-replace parts.

“To me, there’s not a better laser printer manufacturer in all regards than Hewlett-Packard,” Medwed said. “I fully believe in HP. Many people have come out touting how they’re going to be HP killers. It’s always been talk, and the actions behind the talk have not been there.”

It was not just HP’s product quality that put it in the lead. The company was strong across the board, outdistancing five competitors in every area by solid margins. It surpassed Xerox by 8.8 points in average technical rating and 8.1 points in channel areas. Its overall composite score of 81.8 put HP 8.3 points ahead of the runner-up.

“I don’t see how you can put anybody else ahead of them,” said Sharon Habibi, CEO of Syscom Technologies, a Marietta, Ga.-based solution provider and HP partner. “Pricewise, they are also very competitive and they stay that way in the market.”

Habibi also believes the proof is in experience. Her company not only sells HP printers, but also uses them. Some of the HP printers her company uses are several years old—a testament to their reliability and durability.

“HP printers have survived the times,” she said. “You talk about ROI—I keep moving older HP printers we have from here to there, from one location to another, because they’re still working and they still print simple documents.”