Whos Next-Another company going away

[pcs]

With Oki announcing their departure from the Americas by next March.
Who will be the next to go, merge or just get out of the business.
Back in the 90's there was a lot companies. It seems like every few years another bits the dust. Before long there will only be a handful of companies.
With fewer companies there will be less competition, higher prices and little innovation.

Years ago it was about quality equipment and service, good support during and after warranty. Now it is putting the client on a lease then turn and burn. The small 1 to 5 person dealers are going out of business because they can no longer compete against the regional and national dealers for new equipment sales and service.

Thanks for letting me blow off a little steam.

[rspicer]

Re: Whos Next-Another company going away

I started in the industry in the mid 90's, and there has been a LOT of merging and buyouts since then. Even though I thought Oki's toner based print engines were complete crap, it is sad to see them go away. Yet another manufacturer either dying out or swallowed up by another manufacturer. Plus more small local dealerships are getting bought out by corporate, which might result in lower prices, but mostly just gets rid of any good customer service.

[Phil B.]

Re: Whos Next-Another company going away

Oki cut their own throats when after having the C9xx series out after a few years.. they discontinued supporting small dealers. They didn't allow us to sell the newer C9xx models and made it impossible for us to receive tech support. THAT move busted the balls of a lot of the mom n pops that spent beau coups of money to get/keep Oki dealership.

Personally I know that I had over 120 Oki C911-C931-C941(e) ( plus a bunch of other Oki printers ) printers in the field in small graphic artists shops and then had to pull the rug out from underneath them due to lack of repair parts/supplies. That almost KILLED our shop... then we picked Epson - Muratec (puke) .. and just before I left Canon ImageGraph (puke again)

I bailed within 6 months they closed the doors 4 months later.

[tech28]

Re: Whos Next-Another company going away

We, as small independent service/sales company, gave up on trying to compete on new small to medium machines in the early 90's, going against the conglomerates didnt make sense then, it doesnt make sense now. Stay with and sell what makes you a dollar or two. We just have been selling refurbed equipment for 30 years, that has worked well. Accommodate, fluctuate, adjust, and be Johnnie on the spot, and you will survive. God Bless this great country we live in,

[Phil B.]

Re: Whos Next-Another company going away

We, as small independent service/sales company, gave up on trying to compete on new small to medium machines in the early 90's, going against the conglomerates didnt make sense then, it doesnt make sense now. Stay with and sell what makes you a dollar or two. We just have been selling refurbed equipment for 30 years, that has worked well. Accommodate, fluctuate, adjust, and be Johnnie on the spot, and you will survive. God Bless this great country we live in,

well I don't work for that jackass any more ( Thank you Lord ) and have gone indy.. doing ok .. supplemented with scrap metal I can pick up.. scrap is bringing in 400-600 usd a month alone,

[BillyCarpenter]

Re: Whos Next-Another company going away

We, as small independent service/sales company, gave up on trying to compete on new small to medium machines in the early 90's, going against the conglomerates didnt make sense then, it doesnt make sense now. Stay with and sell what makes you a dollar or two. We just have been selling refurbed equipment for 30 years, that has worked well. Accommodate, fluctuate, adjust, and be Johnnie on the spot, and you will survive. God Bless this great country we live in,

I'm with you on that. There's more money in used machines than new machines. Plus, there's no quotas. When I owned an authorized dealership there were a lot of hoops to jump thru. I began to feel like I was working for Kyocera rather than myself. Effectively that's exactly what I was doing.

[copiertec]

Re: Whos Next-Another company going away

well I don't work for that jackass any more ( Thank you Lord ) and have gone indy.. doing ok .. supplemented with scrap metal I can pick up.. scrap is bringing in 400-600 usd a month alone,

I hear aluminum prices have risen due to the shortage.

[jmaister]

Re: Whos Next-Another company going away

Disney.