5/12/01 - According to the Gartner Group, Canon has withdrawn from direct sales of its Canon brand monochrome workgroup laser printers. Aside from the immediate impact on customers, the move will most affect Canon's relationship with Hewlett-Packard (HP). The Gartner Group said that Canon re-entered direct sales and distribution of its workgroup laser printers in 1998. Canon told Gartner that it stopped selling its Canon-branded monochrome workgroup printers in the United States at the end of April. The report said Canon will still sell color laser printers, but that would provide only limited growth. The Gartner Group said Canon's withdrawal reflects the "significant challenge that vendors face in building a two-tier distribution network to sell printers. Developing this kind of infrastructure can take years, and Gartner suspects that Canon underestimated the time and money required to grow such a channel." For more information, visit www.gartnergroup.com.