State of Technology: HP Makes Innovation Hard Copy

With a broad line of printers that range from low-end consumer inkjets to enterprise-class, color-laser and multifunction printers, Hewlett-Packard ranked highest in printer innovation among solution providers.

In the quarterly VARBusiness State of Technology survey, all partners praised HP for delivering products that meet customer needs and staying on the cutting edge with networked devices, high-end scanners, MFPs and document-management software.

Xerox, Canon and Epson earned good innovation ratings, too, but despite comparable product offerings to HP's, they don't have the leader's market share or channel prowess.

Lexmark, the No. 2 vendor by market share, ranked fifth in innovation. The company has many products that partners consider highly innovative, but it came late to the game with MFPs and midmarket color-laser printers.

While printer resolution is the most important innovation factor for small VARs, cost and margin top the list for midsize and large partners. Alternative printer vendors, such as Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Brother and Oki Data, didn't make the top five, which is probably a reflection of channel programs, market share and limited product offerings. --Lawrence M. Walsh