Western European Office Equipment Usage Driven by Increased Demand for Colour in the Office

InfoTrends: the office equipment usage is being primarily driven by the increased demand for colour in the office. This is demonstrated by the increased presence of colour copiers and colour laser printers. The prevalence of colour laser printers has increased significantly between 2004 and 2005. Whilst only 36.2% of respondents reported owning these devices in 2004, 44.1% reported owning them in 2005.

Figure 1: Which of the following types of office equipment do you have at your location? Please check all that apply.

Businesses are beginning to favour colour laser printers over inkjet technology due to their higher speed, better reliability, and high-capacity toner cartridges. Over half of the respondents who reported owning a colour laser printer were from smaller, more cost-conscious companies with 10-99 employees.

The migration towards colour printing is further evidenced by the increased number of respondents who indicated owning a colour copier. The most significant change was seen among 24+ cpm colour copiers, with 9% of respondents owning one in 2004 and 14% of respondents who reported owning one in 2005.

• The majority of respondents were using toner and inkjet cartridges that were the same brand as their printers.

• Respondents with production black & white printers were most likely to report using the same brand of paper as their device. Other segments where users reported a higher use of same-branded paper included black & white copiers, colour copiers, and colour laser printers.

• Printing and copying are the most commonly used functions on multifunction devices. When producing documents, respondents reported spending an average of 44.8% of their time on printing and 25.3% of their time on copying. Both of these percentages were higher in this year’s study than they had been in 2004.

• Between 2004 and 2005, the average number of production printers per respondent has risen from 4 to almost 11.

The Future of the Document: 2005, Publ 20060208