Market Share, After Sale Support Study Released: Heidelberg Receives Top Honor

Heidelberg, Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Xerox and Agfa have largest brand share.

Heidelberg, Fuji Film, Screen USA, Oce and KPG provide the best after-sale service.

In February 2002, we asked printers about what brands of equipment they have and to rate those brands in terms of their service and support. Respondents to this survey represented a wide range of companies by various business and demographic factors. Nearly 60% of the 198 respondents characterized themselves as general commercial printers primarily offering offset printing services. The other 40% included a mix of digital print specialists (mostly digital), quick printers, prepress services and other graphic service providers. The actual respondents were mostly owners, presidents, general managers, VP of Manufacturing, and production managers.


Brand Share of Major Equipment Vendors

Heidelberg has the largest brand share with 55.2% of companies indicating they currently have or have used this brand in the last two years. Among general commercial printers, 67.8% of the respondents indicated they have Heidelberg equipment. Heidelberg is also very strong with medium to large printers (70%+ brand share among printers with $3 million in revenue). In fact, among companies that have a 4-color or 5+ color offset press, over 80% indicated they have Heidelberg equipment.

Which of the following brands of prepress, press, printing or bindery equipment do you have at your company?

One surprise was the widespread presence of Hewlett-Packard. 51.0% of the print providers indicated they have or have recently used HP brand equipment. CAP Ventures believes HP’s high brand share among commercial printers is from its dominant position in black & white office laser printers, color desktop printers (inkjet and laser), and wide format digital printers. Other CAP Ventures research indicates that HP has over 40% brand share among companies with large format digital printing equipment. HP’s strong brand share could be an asset as it looks to expand its presence in the production digital color printing market through its acquisition of Indigo.

Epson, Xerox and Agfa round out the top five brand share leaders. Epson has done well with its high resolution ink jet printers (both narrow and wide format) in the prepress, design and commercial printing industry. Xerox has had a focused effort on the graphic arts industry for over 10 years with its production digital printing systems. Agfa has been a perennial leader in prepress systems and supplies.


Service and Support Reputation is Critical

Printers cited a vendor’s reputation for service and support as the most important factor when choosing brands of equipment. Close behind were the vendor’s reputation for reliability and the vendor’s product line for future upgrades and needs. Printers indicated that previous experience with a brand and price are of significantly lower importance when making their decisions for an equipment supplier.

Please rate the importance of the following factors when purchasing prepress, press or digital printing equipment.

The research suggests that printers are willing to pay a premium for a quality product that is backed up by a good service program and an upgrade path for the future.

On the other hand, printers tend to have long memories. Although they may be willing to try a new brand of equipment - if it can provide them with a competitive edge, a bad experience with the equipment or the service can make it very difficult for the vendor to get back in the door and sell additional equipment.

In this highly competitive market, vendors need to be vigilant in seeking to continually improve their product reliability and service programs.

Who Has the Best Service?

If service and support are the most important factors in selecting a brand of equipment, which brand provides the best service and support? CAP Ventures asked respondents to rate on a 1 to 5 scale (5 = outstanding) the service and support capabilities of the brands they currently have or have used in the last two years.

Please rate the service and support capabilities of the following brands.