With the entry into each new year, it’s always interesting to peruse the prior ‘year in review’ and make predictions about what might be in store for the year to come. During my days working for an Office Technology OEM, I really enjoyed the prognostications from the likes of Gartner Group, IDC and others. Heck, they even gave probabilities in connection with their predictions. “Page volume in the general office will decline in the coming year” – probability 100%. “The overall market for A4 devices will grow” – probability 95%.
Of course, I’m poking a little fun given the predictions mentioned above. Truth be told, many of the predictions outlined by analysts at the beginning of each year can be quite insightful, even if they don’t come to fruition. Take the predictions made many years ago concerning business diversification, dealer acquisitions and private equity. Many of these have proven to be quite accurate, foretelling today’s office technology landscape. Those who acted upon these and other prognostications have certainly benefited.
One predication that has been much more challenging to make is that of OEM consolidation. When I entered the office technology industry in the mid 90’s, OEM consolidation was already a topic of discussion.
Check out my full blog in this month's The Imaging Channel
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