B&W Copier Investment Decreasing, Study Says

Despite some spikes, black-and-white electronic printing as a sales opportunity among the quick printing community has been steadily declining, say TrendWatch Graphic Arts survey data.

The high point came in Fall 1997, when 24% of quick printers said they saw it as an opportunity, while the low point was in Fall 2001 at 14%. (Among printers in general, this opportunity has remained fairly steady, though low.)

As the chart shows, there also has been a decline in the investment of these devices among quick printers—from 20% in Fall 1997 to 9% in Fall 2001. (Again, among printers in general, this investment has remained steady but low.) Color copiers have had a markedly spiky investment history among quick printers—21% in Spring 2001, the second-highest level ever, to 12% in Fall 2001—but generally have shown higher numbers than have black-and-white high-speed copiers.

It eventually may be the case that as color copiers become more prevalent, they will supplant their black-and-white counterparts. While these devices are not really different versions of the same thing, and the black-and-white iterations are much faster than color, color copying is just not that expensive anymore. With this in mind, it may be that customers will simply begin to gravitate more toward color copiers.