A Dell executive talked about the declining market for A3 printers.
CRN reported that Orlando Lacayo, Dell’s Global Product Manager, stated that the companies that manufacture them are now trying to enter the A4 market, noting: “The reality is most companies don’t need A3, but copier companies continue to sell them. Only one [percent to] three percent of all pages printed are on A3. It’s a tiny fraction, but there’s a push to sell them because they’re very expensive and you can make more money on them than you can on A4.”
Lacayo went on to say: “Channel is one of our growth opportunities. It’s been growing really well, double-digit growth over the last couple of years with distributors like Ingram [Micro] and Tech Data and large VARs. The plan for next year is to grow that business even more by going wide and deep. Customers and partners we have a relationship with now, we’re going to increase the business we do with them.”
He also noted that apart from price the A3 and A4 markets are merging, stating that “the A3 and A4 worlds are colliding. For copier companies that have been around a long time, A3 is declining, so the A3 companies are trying to make up revenue loss by getting into the A4 space”. The main competitors for Dell are HP Inc and Lexmark, but Lacayo said that Dell is “intent on beating those industry stalwarts on price and by pushing more printers through the channel”, and the company’s branch in Texas is offering bonuses to its partners on achieving certain goals, as well as discounts for major deals
He concluded: “The technology has evolved where it makes a lot of sense for a customer to refresh. The difference in energy consumption five years ago compared to now is incredible. We have more efficient processors, more efficient power management. Over the last few years the chemical composition of toner has been improved so the temperatures are lower, which reduces energy consumption and reduces the time to print.”