Six Key Printer Trends in 2024

Six Key Printer Trends in 2024

The death of paper in the office has been predicted since the advent of smartphones and tablets. And yet, it is still with us.

There is no doubt the way we print has changed. Many office managers are unsure whether they need an A3 copier any more, and the impact of COVID, which has brought about a revolution in hybrid working, are two obvious factors at work here.

Joseph Kovar and Dylan Martin have picked up on this topic. They have spoken to experts at Lexmark, Sharp, Canon, Brother, Epson, HP, and Xerox about the printer industry in 2024.

In their article on CRN, Kovar and Martin jump straight in on the topic of fax machines. They quote Sharp’s Dion Pagliarello, who says, in part, “People said faxes were going to go away in 1997, and people are still sending them. Now, of course, they’re internet or IP faxes, but they’re still going to a fax machine in some cases.” Pagliarello is firmly of the view the paperless office is still a long way off.

Their article identifies six key trends impacting the industry:

Hybrid work has seen businesses decentralize their printer fleets: The authors quote Terry Antinora from Xerox, who is confident that “work-from-home and hybrid work is here to stay, and we have reached a new normal.” At the same time, they quote Canon’s Kevin Price, who claims businesses have become “more aware of the costs associated with printing [and are] optimizing their spending by decentralizing some printers and moving from A3-based solutions to A4-based ones.”
The continued push for digitization: The authors point out that there has never been a more important time for businesses to adopt printing solutions that integrate with cloud systems. According to Shelly Radler from Brother, “People want to save documents to the cloud, print documents from the cloud, scan documents to the cloud, or share documents using the cloud. So we’ve seen a lot of new workflows, and this is impacting kind of a lot of different industries.”
Growing acceptance of inkjet printers in the office: As you would expect, Epson and Canon, the market leaders when it comes to inkjet printing technologies, are pleased with the move to inkjet in the office. There has been a steady change of perception as business managers over inkjet printers, who had previously favored laser printers due to concerns over cost, performance and other perceived issues. Canon’s Kevin Price claims the newer ink tank solutions for printers are helping change minds as business owners are starting to “better understand the value and the total cost of ownership proposition associated with ink.”
Printer security is important: HP’s Sue Richards says that printer OEMs are responsible for highlighting existing security features until businesses are better aware of printer security issues.
Sustainability remains a critical factor: According to Sue Richards, sustainability has become a “consideration in the entire lifecycle of printers.” This includes shipping and packaging. Printers must “have appropriate energy consumption and continued improvement across their energy consumption, and that they’re completely manageable and serviceable,” she said.
The search for stability to avoid industry disruptions: According to Chris White at Lexmark, COVID was extremely disruptive, causing “a number of vendors to retrench [staff] to correct shortfalls.” Epson America’s Elliot Williams added there has also been a growing emphasis on service quality and delivery.

David Gibbons has 47 years of experience, knowledge and skills in business (management, consultancy, strategic planning) and communication (teaching, event management, fundraising, journalism, broadcasting and new/digital media—social, website, app development). He started and ran a successful cartridge remanufacturing business in Sydney and was also the Executive Officer of the Australasian Cartridge Remanufacturers’ Association for 7 years.

In 2011, Gibbons relocated to RT Media in Zhuhai, China where he has been a director responsible for strategic planning, senior management, event planning, marketing, broadcasting and magazine publishing on behalf of the global imaging supplies industry. He is certainly aware of the challenges of remanufacturing in China.

His other blogs include: