Nubeprint’s latest report finds machine compliance “does not change significantly”.
The reports have been published biannually since 2011, and Nubeprint stated each is “the result of deep testing of printer and copier models installed at customers, and under the assumption that the device has to be managed remotely using a data collection agent (DCA)”. Tests take place “under the same conditions that any dealer faces when operating its managed print service contracts”.
It adds that “the age of the printer is not a barrier to complete the testing”, with “20-plus year old printers and copiers” found among the “tens of thousands of versions of devices tested and managed”. It also notes there is a “general belief that new models are more compliant”, and that “in general, they do provide more information supposedly”, but “in most cases the quality of the information is so poor” it affects customer profit.
New models “do not show any better MPS compliance ratio compared to aged models”, and “show no consistency in the type of data available”, with this common “in a plurality of printer and copier manufacturers”, and Nubeprint added that “if this is part of a long-term strategy to build barriers for the customer to shift from their devices to others, that we can’t know”.
The company added that 51 manufacturers’ machines were included in the latest study, with wide-format and ribbon machines remaining “small compared to the office printers and copiers”, as end-users “are finding the management of these devices to be a burden and are requesting the MPS service provider to handle these”, so “having a robust solution to successfully manage these devices becomes a way for the dealer to gain new customers and protect existing ones”.
3,200 printer and copier families were analysed, with over 15,000 different models, and 64 percent were MFPs, 31 percent printers, four percent wide-formats and one percent ribbon machines, with a colour-monochrome split of 47 percent to 53 percent. Within MFPs and printers, colour MFPs made up 33 percent to monochrome MFP’s 31 percent, while single-function colour made up 14 percent compared to single-function monochrome’s 17 percent.
Compared to previous reports, distribution in compliance “does not change significantly”, with the “vast majority” having a “lack of compliance”. 40 percent were fully MPS compliant, and only “a limited number” – one percent – “should be excluded from an MPS contract”, with wide-format and ribbon printers “the biggest contributors”. 29 percent saw “medium” issues and 24 percent “major”, with only six percent seeing “minor issues.
This does however mean 60 percent of printers “experience significant limitations that cause high risk in terms of profit and customer satisfaction”, with the percentage of fully-compliant machines remaining “flat” since 2011. OEMs are following “different strategies that are not always consistent over time”, trying to “facilitate the remote management” of printers while trying to “build barriers as a way to ensure they’re selling their own supplies”.
Of the major printer OEMs, Canon saw only 15 percent fully-compliant, and over 50 percent seeing major issues, while Epson saw over 50 percent fully-compliant, HP Inc and Lexmark 40 percent fully-compliant, Samsung 60 percent fully-compliant and Xerox 45 percent fully compliant. Monochrome single-functions represent 43 percent, colour MFPs 24 percent, monochrome MFPs 25 percent and colour single-functions seven percent, with wide-format at one percent.
By volume, monochrome MFP “remains the absolute preference”, with 69 percent share, followed by colour MFPs with 18 percent, monochrome single-function with eight percent and colour single-function with five percent. Other findings included that 23 percent of the pages “are printed from a colour device”, and that “69 percent of the printing activity is still managed mainly from copiers”.