Recharger.com

Recharger and Lyra Team Up for Series of White Papers

July 1, 2008

The printer supplies industry is impacted by many factors, but chief among these are the world economy, technological changes by the OEMs, and the resources and capabilities of Chinese manufacturers. To determine the impact on the industry of these three factors, Recharger has partnered with Lyra Research to survey top executives of major remanufacturers, industry suppliers, ink and toner companies, and other industry personalities. Executives from U.S. regional companies were queried as well as managers of European, Asian and global companies.

Lyra and Recharger will jointly publish a series of white papers that summarize the results of the survey. The first of these papers will be presented at World Expo in August as part of the Executive Outlook Pass. It will provide a summary of the opinions of the surveyed executives on the impacts of the current economic situation, changing technologies, and China manufacturing. Future papers will look specifically and in more depth at each of the three areas.

Final results of the survey are not yet in, but several trends are becoming clear. The economy is impacting the supplies business, which has always been affected by the number of so-called white-collar workers. As white-collar workers go down, printing decreases. On the other hand, a slow economy presents opportunities as it drives some companies to look for cost-saving solutions. The current credit crunch affects the credit lines of industry players as well as of their customers. Many of the surveyed executives expressed concern about the technical changes that are incorporated each time the OEMs release new supply SKUs. Encrypted chips, chemical toner, and exotic ink formulations have slowed down time to market of new SKUs. However, most industry managers expressed optimism that the industry can overcome the technical obstacles thrown at them. China is seen by most as a maturing economy, with improvements in quality, but corresponding increases in cost. And China’s domestic market represents a huge potential market for printer supplies.