Laser Printers- Canon is The Prefered Option

Canon might have lost its crown in inkjets, but it still remains #1 in laser printers segment. While it has marginally pipped HP to gain the top slot, Canon has certainly gained the mindshare of the channel partners in the country. And unlike the inkjet category, Samsung has managed to grab the third position, thus pushing Epson to the fourth spot. Channel partners seem to be impressed with Canon's overall product quality, as they not only offer value for money but are also diverse in range, user-friendly, reliable, and conform to specifications. As far as marketing activities are concerned, the company is very comfortable in conducting localized promotions, has allocated funds for marketing (co-op funding), and also has an effective team in place to conduct all the marketing promotions in the country.

The partners also appreciate Canon's ability to provide satisfactory repair and replacement services for its customers. Besides, the company is not only prompt in stock replacement but also has a very proactive service approach. However, it needs to put some effort in maintaining its relationship with the partners, as it has failed to score over its closest competitor in this aspect. It has to specially focus on keeping the consistency and effectiveness of communication with channel partners. And the same goes for online support as well, which hasn't gone down well with the partners. They believe that Canon need to specifically work on the richness of online resources it offers to them.

As far as HP's laser printers are concerned, they do have technological leadership and bring perfect laser color printing. Though HP managed to garner points in terms of innovativeness of market development programs, availability and competence of account managers/helpdesk services, and technical expertise to resolve queries, it definitely needs to work on the credit policy and back-end incentives and its settlement. Samsung is definitely ‘the pick of the year', as it has not only impressed the channel partners with its technological leadership and advertising strategies, but also with the product pricing and credit policy. The company has also been effective and consistent in its communication with the partners.

And though Epson too is in the fray with the wide presence of its service centers across the country, being prompt in communicating the schemes/incentive programs with its partners, and richness of online resources it offers, it will have to make an extra effort this financial year to pump up its position in the market.