Inkjet Printers- HP, the Best of All

HP has emerged as a clear winner in the inkjet printers category. In fact, channel partners have rated the company quite high in all the parameters as compared to its competitors, ie, Canon, Epson, and Samsung. Interestingly, last year's winner Canon has gone down to the second spot while the third position has been grabbed by Epson, pipping Samsung to the fourth rank.

HP seems to be the most favored brand when it comes to overall product quality, as it has secured maximum number of points in all the sub-parameters like technological leadership, diversity, reliability, conformation to specifications, and price versus performance ratio. In terms of marketing support provided to its partners, the company not only brings innovations in its market development programs, but also allocated funds for conducting various marketing activities with the help of a very efficient team.

Furthermore, HP has left its competitors far behind in providing after-sales support to its channel partners. The company's account managers/helpdesk services are both competent and always available for providing any kind of assistance to the partners. Besides having technical expertise to resolve all the problems of its customers and partners, it is also very prompt in stock replacement along with providing services in every nook and corner of the country. The profit margins given by the company have gone down well with the channel partners, as it has maintained transparency in its commercial terms and policies and always takes care of back-end incentives and its settlement. The most laudable fact here is the presence of HP's online partner portal and its effectiveness. It is not only prompt in turnaround time but also there is richness of online resources it offers to the partners. The company has built a very interactive site for resolving any type of queries of its channel partners. The areas where Canon and Epson have scored over HP are the user-friendliness of their products and flexibility in conducting localized promotions. Apparently, Epson is ahead of all others when it comes to product pricing, profit margins given to the partners, and flexibility in commercial terms.