Beyond the renewals gap

If you’ve been following recent hardware market reports, you’ve likely seen the headlines: new printer and multi-function printer (MFP) shipments are slowing down. For partners whose businesses have long been tied to the rhythm of the three- to five-year hardware refresh cycle, this might seem like a cause for concern.

But what if this slowdown isn’t a threat, but a massive, hidden opportunity?

We’ve been speaking with our partners across the globe, and a consistent, insightful narrative has emerged, particularly from those in EMEA. They’ve pointed to a “renewal gap” created by the market disruption of 2020. This isn’t just a theory; it’s a reality backed by data.

The pandemic aftershock: Why 2025 is different

To understand the opportunity in front of us, we first need to look back five years. The common perception is that IT spending froze in 2020. That’s only half the story. While strategic projects were paused, they were immediately replaced by a frantic dash to buy technology for one reason: enabling remote work.

As almost all of our partners observed, this led to two very different stories for the hardware market. While the PC market boomed, the office-centric, multi-function device (MFD) market experienced the exact opposite. As your customers’ offices closed, the need for large, centralized printers evaporated overnight.

Partners tell us the same story. They noted that, while home printer sales surged, businesses stopped buying high-end office devices, and many reported that their customers had slashed their budgets.

As predicted by our partners, the consequence of this ‘missing’ cohort of MFDs from 2020 means that fewer devices are coming up for a standard five-year renewal this year. But this isn’t a dead end. It’s a pivot point. The conversation is no longer about hardware replacement; encouragingly, it’s about optimization, security, and solving the challenges of the modern workplace.

Three strategies to win in a slower hardware market

When businesses aren’t buying new hardware, they inevitably look to get more from what they already have. This is where the channel, armed with the right software solutions, can provide real, tangible value beyond the hardware.

First, you need to lead with fleet optimisation, not just replacement. Indeed, the slowdown in new sales is the perfect trigger to switch the conversation. This market shift highlights a critical customer need: a single solution to manage their existing devices while preparing them for the future, whether that’s a move to the cloud or adopting new security standards.

This market trend confirms that this work is critical. It allows you to approach customers with a compelling message: “Holding off on new printers? No problem. Let’s modernize the print experience you already have, making it more secure and easier to manage.” This changes your role from a hardware vendor to a solutions consultant.

This is where the flexibility of independent software vendor (ISV) solutions come into play. As a starting point, an effective print management solution will help to put the right printer onto a user's computer, depending on their location, access rights, job role, and so on. Such solutions enable you to demonstrate how you can add more value to your customers and end users, elevating your role from a software supplier to a trusted advisor and consultant.

Perhaps more importantly, print management solutions simplify the process for securing and managing a customer’s current fleet, while a subscription model provides a clear and simple migration path to cloud-based print solutions. This enables you to meet customers where they are now and guide them to the cloud at their own pace. This protects their current fleet investment - without a 'rip and replace' approach – and helps them sweat that asset just a little more.

Second, it’s important to own the entire fleet - every single device – and it’s here where a different approach can make a big impact. For years, the focus has been on the big MFDs. But what about the rest of the printers scattered around the office? The desktop print in the CEO’s office, the one in the legal department, the prescription printer in a doctor’s office - those are often unmanaged, unsecure, and create a frustrating experience for users.

With those examples in mind - and your competitors focused on the main MFD contract - you have a massive opportunity to lead with a story for a customer’s entire fleet. Be the one who asks about those forgotten devices. Powerful and flexible print management solutions enable you to bring every printer, from the oldest desktop model to the newest MFD, under one simple, secure print management solution. This will enable you to provide a consistent, secure, and modern print experience for every employee, no matter what devices they’re using, not to mention simplifying the process for tracking print costs.

Finally, help to solve the hybrid work puzzle, because the challenges of hybrid work are real and persistent. It’s no longer just about managing a single office location; it’s about supporting users as they move between multiple locations - the main office, a regional branch, their home, or even a co-working space.

This created a huge headache for IT teams trying to ensure everyone can print easily and securely wherever they are. By solving this complex logistical problem using print management solutions engineered from the ground up for this very scenario, you’re delivering value that goes far beyond the device itself.

From challenge to opportunity

As we’ve established, the market for new hardware sales is seeing a dip. But the underlying dynamics - the need to optimize costs, manage a mixed-age fleet, and solve the hybrid work puzzle - have created the ideal conditions for software-led solutions.

I believe that the channel and ISVs can work together to turn these market conditions into your biggest competitive advantage while adding value, boosting security, and simplifying print… wherever users are based.