Lexmark Channel Exec Departs

Kathleen Martin, Lexmark's manager of channel marketing operations, made a personal decision to leave the company earlier this month, said Neal Durnil, another Lexmark channel marketing executive. Durnil said no changes are on tap for the company's strategy for sales through solution providers or resellers. That strategy has been focusing increasingly on vertical market opportunities, as well as an expanded Lexmark product line that includes color multi-function printers.

Despite pressure at Lexmark after falling short of Wall Street expectations for its most recent quarter -- due to declining inkjet sales and a continued dropoff in its OEM business -- Lexmark executives have said its non-consumer, commercial sales have remained a strong point for the company. In North America, virtually all of Lexmark's commercial product sales are through the channel.

"Their partner program is very good," said Peter Busam, vice president and chief operating officer of Decisive Business Systems, a Pennsauken, N.J.-based solution provider. "They have really good incentives for a reseller." He said his company has had success with Lexmark products in the public sector for the past 18 months to two years.

The pressure on Lexmark as a company, though, remains unabated and challenges continue. Last year, the company reduced its workforce in a worldwide restructuring. This year, after sales in its consumer business slumped, Lexmark CEO Paul Curlander shook up his executive ranks moving Paul Rooke, who had been president of Lexmark's Printing Solutions and Services Group, to become president of its consumer operations, and naming Marty Canning to replace Rooke.

Lexmark is slated to release its third-quarter earnings on Oct. 23, and then conduct an in-depth meeting with financial analysts on Nov. 14.