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40th Annual Office Technology Dealer Survey: Executive Summary (Part 2 of 2)

by CJ Cannata, Cathy O'Brien, and Mark Vruno December 2, 2025

written by CJ Cannata, Cathy O'Brien, and Mark Vruno December 2, 2025

1.4K

Office technology dealers’ leading causes for concern are 1) declining print volumes and market changes, 2) talent acquisition and retention, and 3) competition and market consolidation. While these responses were gathered from an open-ended question this year rather than a multiple-choice one, they mirror the same concerns reported last year. Fifty percent of our respondents indicated that the decline in print volumes was their most significant concern, while 35% said hiring and retention, and 15% said competition and market consolidation.
Economic uncertainty surrounding tariffs, while a hot topic dominating general news headlines, was the leading cause for concern for 14% of our respondents. Another topic dominating the news cycle, artificial intelligence, was considered a cause for concern for just 5% of dealers.
Dealers’ ratings of their A3 manufacturers were slightly higher at an average of 4.36 compared to last year’s 4.3, although not a direct comparison because this year we added dealers’ ratings of Xerox, along with the Big Six, in our calculations. If we include only the Big Six, the average rating is 4.38.
Toshiba is the highest rated A3 manufacturer for the second consecutive year, with a rating of 4.6, the same rating as reported in our survey last year. Sharp remains steady at the number two ranking with a rating of 4.48.
Konica Minolta continues with a steady increase for A3 from its low in 2022 (3.0) to an average rating of 4.32, up from 4.2 last year.
Overall, A4 ratings improved for the third consecutive year with an average rating of 4.18, up from 4.1 last year and 4.0 the year before. This year, survey respondents rated Brother, Canon, HP, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Ricoh, Sharp, Toshiba, and Xerox/Lexmark (we did not receive enough responses regarding Epson to include them in this year’s tabulations).
Toshiba is the highest-rated A4 manufacturer with a rating of 4.5, a significant achievement considering that last year its ratings were calculated as part of the “other” category because we did not receive enough responses to rate them individually. Sharp continues to hold the number two spot for A4, but with an increase in its rating from last year’s 4.3 to this year’s 4.41.
HP’s A4 rating of 3.74 put it at the bottom of the A4 rankings; however, it was an improvement over last year’s 3.7. This year, Lexmark’s average rating of 4.08 was an improvement over last year’s 3.8 rating.
The ratings of the top five leasing partners (those identified by 25 or more respondents as a primary leasing partner) are GreatAmerica Financial Services (4.78), LEAF Commercial Capital (4.57), Wells Fargo (4.41), U.S. Bank (4.36), and DLL (4.06). While Wells Fargo edged out U.S. Bank for the third spot in our rankings, up from 4.5 last year, U.S. Bank’s rating increased as well from 4.3 the previous year. The good news for the financing sector is that all five top leasing partners saw their ratings increase from a year earlier.
Leasing companies remain critical to office technology industry op Only 3% of dealers representing this year’s Survey universe solely conduct their own leasing and only 6% (23) conduct their own leasing in tandem with an outside source.