Multi-Function Devices

It is not that MFDs have not been around. They have been around for years now. But two concerns kept them from becoming popular — Price and Quality. Both have been addressed and this year saw a lot of action happening in the MFD space. 45% of our enterprise respondents have already invested in MFDs and 21% plan to buy one in the next year. So, we introduced MFDs as a new Users’ Choice category. 

HP won in this category with a wide margin, with its closest contender, Canon, coming in with a UPI of 21%. Samsung and Xerox are close behind Canon. HP has a stronghold in the North and a large presence in the South and West. It got its biggest push from companies with an IT spend of over Rs one crore, with its intended buyers in the government departments, research bodies, services and

BPO. 

The voters said that their reasons for selecting the products are good quality and the fact that they are well known. But, of those who voted for Canon (18%), Samsung (24%) and Xerox (18%), more gave high points to the brands being well priced.

In the case of HP, of those who voted, only 6% cited price as their reason for the vote. 

Canon seems strongest in the South, while Samsung and Xerox scored in the West and North, respectively. Also, both Canon and Samsung got their maximum votes from companies with an IT spend of between Rs 25 lakh to Rs one crore, while Xerox did good business from companies with an IT spend of over Rs one crore. In the verticals, software voted maximum for Canon, banking and finance for Samsung and BPO for Xerox.

HP has a high brand loyalty, with 88% intending to remain loyal to it. Also, 30% of Canon users and 17% of Xerox users are willing to try out HP MFDs, while the shift from HOP is negligible, with 3% going to Canon and 2% to Xerox. 

Though MFDs have been around for a long time, it is only right to consider them as an emerging market segment–it may take a couple of years

for the market to settle and for the leaders to be identified. 

Another interesting factor here is that the market spans a wide range, all the way from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10 lakh. This is too wide a margin for a single play. So, as the market grows, it will only be natural for it to get segmented, possibly by technology, or by capability. Let us wait and watch.