By Andy Slawetsky – HANOVER PARK, IL—More than 30 U.S. and Canadian dealers gathered at FUJIFILM’s Hanover Park headquarters for an inside look at the company’s expanding presence in the office equipment arena. After years of watching the US and Canadian markets from afar, FUJIFILM has planted their flag and stated their intentions to bring their office products to North America. And here they come.
The morning agenda featured opening remarks by members of the Graphic Communications leadership team, including Andrew Gunn, Toshi Kino, and Tommy Katagiri. Presentations by Yasmina Bouchta and Tony Aquino outlined Fujifilm’s approach to establishing partnerships with dealers, not merely signing them up as resellers, with the goal of offering a broad portfolio of print solutions—from office A3 and A4 devices to specialized high-volume inkjet and laser equipment.
Attendees were later split into tour groups to see multiple product stations. The demonstrations highlighted ultra-wide format printers designed for large-scale commercial needs, high-speed inkjet presses, and the newly introduced line of office devices.
Conversations throughout the tours touched on pricing, distribution, and the long-term support that FUJIFILM intends to provide, a potential challenge to someone entering the market after giving competitors a 50+ year head start.
The day concluded with an evening gathering at Topgolf, giving dealers a casual setting to continue discussions and compare notes. Many attendees used the event to gauge how FUJIFILM’s lineup might fit into their portfolios, particularly as they look to diversify amid ongoing mergers and acquisitions among established OEMs. There were a few big dealer names at this event and FUJIFILM told us they’re looking to initially sign 10 office equipment resellers in the US. They now have two; Marco and another dealer that will be announced at another date. That number will expand to 20 dealers down the road. FUJIFILM is expected to formalize more dealer agreements in the months ahead.
FUJIFILM is an attractive brand for so many reasons. I have no doubt they will sign dealers. However, getting office equipment resellers to actually sell the 2nd or 3rd or 4th brand they’ve picked up is the ultimate challenge. Ask Samsung, who signed tons of dealers but struggled to convert them to their A3 products, eventually exiting the program by selling it to HP.
It was interesting to see how FUJIFILM has brought in so much expertise from competitors. There were many familiar faces at the conference who now work for FUJIFILM, formerly from companies like Canon, HP, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Ricoh, Sharp and Xerox to name a few.
At a time when the industry is playing musical chairs, FUJIFILM has just thrown a chair back into the game, and it’s got peoples’ interest. This is a strong brand with one of the best portfolios an office equipment reseller could hope for, giving dealers a full A3, A4, Wide Format and an elite Production Print portfolio. Signing with a company that is so early in the development of their program may have its challenges early on, but in the end, we feel that FUJIFILM will be one of the last companies standing in this space.
SOURCE Industry Analysts Inc.
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