Xerox’s Channel Reinvention: Can It Overcome Its Hardware Legacy?

At its May partner conference in Frankfurt, Xerox brought together legacy Xerox and Lexmark partners for the first time in Western Europe. The event marked an important step in the company’s reinvention strategy, but it also exposed the scale of the execution challenge ahead. Xerox is trying to integrate portfolios, systems, partner programmes, and routes to market while asking partners to move beyond a hardware-led model in a structurally declining print market. The strategic direction is clear; the question is whether it can turn that intent into sustained channel change. Xerox’s partner-led ambition is not new; what is new is the scale of the execution challenge now attached to it.

Channel expansion brings execution risk

Xerox used the event to reinforce its intention to become a more partner-led organisation. President of Channel Sales for Western Europe, Thomas Valjak, welcomed the 28 Lexmark and 55 Xerox partners by strongly reiterating the “partner-first” approach that he and President of Enterprise Sales, Western Europe, Danny Molhoek, have consistently championed since their appointment to lead the company’s go-to-market strategy in Q1 2026.

The stated objective is for the channel to lead across customers outside named accounts, with some flexibility for partner involvement in larger enterprise and multinational opportunities. That represents a material change in Xerox’s go-to-market model. The challenge will come when strategic accounts and large deals create tension between direct and indirect priorities. This is where channel strategy is most often tested and where Xerox will need to demonstrate consistency.

Putting two experienced Lexmark channel leaders at the helm of its commercial operations has initiated a major shift for Xerox. Historically, Xerox has been considerably more direct-led than Lexmark, with only 38% of its business transacted through the channel. Closing the gap with Lexmark’s 61% indirect model will require a significant cultural and operational shift, particularly within Xerox’s direct sales organisation.

Growing print share in a shrinking market: a three-pronged strategy

Xerox framed its response to declining print volumes, fleet consolidation, and intensifying commoditisation around three priorities: protect the installed base, win new customers, and differentiate through software and services. However, each of these priorities is harder to execute than to articulate, particularly in a market where device refresh cycles are lengthening and hardware margins remain under pressure.

To support new logo wins and software/services-led sales, Xerox intends to increase investment in lead generation, pipeline creation, and funnel management, alongside pricing simplification. Those are sensible measures, but they do not remove the central challenge: partners still need a commercially credible path to growth beyond print hardware.

Unified partner programme friction

Unifying six legacy partner programmes is a necessary step but also a potential source of disruption. Xerox plans a controlled transition during 2026, with legacy Xerox and Lexmark models running in parallel before a unified programme comes into force in 2027. That timetable reflects the complexity of integrating systems and back-office processes, but it also prolongs uncertainty.

The Global Partner Accelerator Network is intended to provide a common framework for training, support, and specialisation across MPS, sustainability programmes, information, digital services, and production print. In principle, these specialisations are central to Xerox’s effort to broaden partner revenues beyond devices. In practice, their value will depend on execution, partner capability, and whether Xerox can make participation commercially worthwhile.

Hardware portfolio development and design philosophy

The Lexmark acquisition materially strengthens Xerox’s control over its print portfolio. As Chris White, Senior VP of Print Offerings, put it, Xerox is now “controlling its destiny” as the designer, developer, manufacturer, seller, and servicer of its own technology. In practical terms, that gives Xerox greater control over product direction, investment priorities, and differentiation, while also creating more scope to reflect partner feedback in future development.

The first products to be launched by the combined organisation are the Xerox C2xx/C3xx 25/30ppm MFPs for the A4 colour segment, an area that continues to show relative resilience. The launch supports Xerox’s position in the entry-level market and underlines the continuing importance of hardware in the near term. However, new device introductions are more likely to defend share than fundamentally change channel economics.

Xerox’s broader design philosophy reflects the reality of longer device lifecycles. Products developed today may remain in use for a decade or more, placing greater emphasis on upgradeability, security resilience, and lifecycle sustainability. That approach is rational, but it also raises an important question: whether systems designed now can continue to support the processor, memory, and software demands of future AI-enabled workflows and security requirements without material constraints emerging over time.

The strategy of keeping devices in the field for longer also accelerates the shift away from selling hardware primarily to existing customers as the core engine of channel revenue. If Xerox expects partners to sustain growth in that environment, it will need to help them build stronger capabilities in software, services, and consultancy-led selling to unlock opportunities with new customers.

Brand transition

The transition from Lexmark-branded to Xerox-branded devices, solutions, and services is expected to run through to 2029 as Xerox’s next-generation products roll over into the portfolio.

Despite pursuing a measured brand transition, Xerox is already facing pressure from some legacy Xerox partners to co-brand or fully rebrand the Lexmark 9-series devices. This underlines the continued importance of brand equity at the local level, particularly for Xerox dealers. At the same time, Xerox is trying to avoid alienating established Lexmark partners, highlighting the delicate balance it must strike during the transition. A faster move towards a single-brand strategy may ultimately provide greater clarity for partners and customers alike.

Beyond print: can Xerox turn partners towards data and digital opportunities?

The third pillar of Xerox’s strategy is also the most important for its long-term relevance: differentiation through building revenue in software and services.

Although it appeared later on the conference agenda, it is arguably the most important component of future channel revenue. This is the area most likely to determine whether Xerox can increase customer value, improve partner profitability, and reduce reliance on hardware-led transactions.

Software and Services leader Petr Nemec discussed data as the foundation of Xerox’s digital offerings and highlighted the potential of the vast data already collected through XPPS. He shared figures on the uplift achieved by partners embracing the full Xerox ecosystem of data, software, and services, citing 19%+ growth in equipment sales revenue in 2025. He also gave examples of potential security services and sustainability charging options.

Rob Smith, Xerox’s Software and Services Business Development Manager, outlined the company’s proposition for helping partners increase customer spend by identifying customer pain points beyond the print infrastructure, including data security, compliance, sustainability, and productivity. In itself, this is not a new argument; most vendors now position print within a broader business outcomes discussion. The more revealing point is that Xerox still needs to push many partners beyond traditional conversations centred on cost, reliability, servicing, and reporting. That underlines how deeply hardware-led selling remains embedded in parts of the channel and why unlocking annuity revenues in areas such as digital services will require a more fundamental shift in partner capability and mindset.

What was less clear, however, was whether Xerox expects this transition to be delivered primarily through its incumbent print channel or whether it also sees a need to recruit partners with stronger software, IT services, or workflow expertise. That distinction matters because not all legacy print partners will be well placed to make the shift into digital services.

If Xerox wants partners to expand customer spend beyond print, it must make that transition operationally achievable and economically compelling. That means enablement, services packaging around IDP and workflow automation solutions, sales support, and incentives all need to align. Otherwise, digital services will remain strategically important but unevenly adopted.

Quocirca Opinion

Xerox’s challenge is clear: it needs to move its channel beyond a transactional, hardware-centric model towards one built around software, services, and consultative value. Yet the event itself highlighted how difficult that transition will be. The strongest visible momentum still sat around A4 MFPs, underlining how deeply hardware remains embedded in channel economics and partner identity.

Success will depend less on strategic intent than on execution. Xerox must create the right mix of enablement, incentives, and commercial support to make the transition beyond print practical and profitable for partners. Some will be able to make that shift; others will not. Xerox appears realistic about that, but it will need to identify quickly which partners can adapt and focus its investment accordingly.

The decision to put former Lexmark executives Thomas Valjak and Danny Molhoek in charge of commercial operations signals a serious intent to build a more disciplined indirect model. Legacy Lexmark partners are also likely to find more familiarity than Xerox partners in the shape of the new organisation, particularly with the continuation of the Business Solutions Dealer model. For many Xerox partners, however, this represents a more substantial adjustment in operating model and mindset.

That is why the pace of transition matters. Xerox is trying to balance urgency with pragmatism as it unifies partner programmes, integrates portfolios, and manages a gradual brand transition. A measured approach may reassure partners who are less ready for change, but it also risks slowing momentum in a market that is not standing still.

The scale of the task should not be underestimated. Xerox is attempting to reinvent its channel while integrating two organisations in a print market that remains under structural pressure. The strategic rationale is credible, but delivery risk is high. Ultimately, progress will depend on channel trust, operational alignment, partner economics, and Xerox’s ability to create genuine momentum beyond hardware.

*This article is republished from Quocirca with permission. 

About Author

Louella Fernandes is the CEO of Quocirca, a globally recognised leading industry analyst firm focused on market trends in the print and imaging industries. With over 30 years of experience in the sector, Louella provides unmatched strategic insight into the evolution of print, hybrid work, and digital disruption in the workplace.

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• Xerox Completes Acquisition of Lexmark
• Xerox Turns the Page With New Branding

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