Global Industry Voices: 2025 Review & 2026 Message

Welcome to 2026.
Before looking ahead, it’s worth reflecting on the shifts and signals that defined 2025. In response to questions from RTMworld.com, I share my perspective on what stood out last year—and what I believe the industry should be paying attention to in 2026.

What key trends or changes in the office equipment & printing supplies industry stood out to you in 2025?

The industry is becoming more aware of the benefits of inkjet technologies. The inkjet revolution is gaining momentum.

I remember when I started the A4 revolution in 2018. Many were convinced that A3 would remain the most valuable solution for end users. They were proven wrong, and most OEMs missed that opportunity and are now forced to partner with other A4 OEMs. Unfortunately, I think many OEMs will repeat that mistake with inkjet.

To reduce on-site service, the industry must significantly enhance service processes for end users. With a rapidly approaching service technician retirement apocalypse—the average age of technicians is late fifties to early sixties—something has to change.

Inkjet technology enables those changes. Some believe that artificial intelligence will bring the changes required to reduce the need for on-site service activity. Service process changes regarding AI, such as improved awareness of preventive maintenance, automated dispatch activities, and data collection to capture volumes and enhance supply replenishment, would also apply to inkjet.

The difference is that inkjet’s on-site service requirements are already significantly lower than those of laser-based technology. Laser printers will never be as effective as inkjets in reducing the need for technicians, regardless of artificial intelligence.

What developments or opportunities do you foresee in the coming year?

Dealers/resellers who deliver print equipment to businesses that embrace inkjet will create significant opportunities to disrupt the status quo—particularly against those who remain focused on laser.

This shift will be dramatic for those bold enough to pursue it. The momentum of Kyocera’s inkjet in production print space should alarm not only Kyocera but all other OEMs to bring this technology to their entire MFP black and white and color product portfolios quickly.

Is there anything you would like to say to our global audience as we move into 2026?

It is more important than ever for the print industry’s actors to stop pursuing diversification rooted in pure nonsense. The disruptions underway will not be forgiving to those who refuse to address realities. Diversification without accountability will not transform an industry.

Dealers need to understand their diversification strategy thoroughly. In the last decade, many organizations moved into product or service diversification based on unrealistic guidance from navigators. Many in the industry are missing a great opportunity to reinvent their print business by innovating their processes.

Innovation is a change in processes.

Those process changes create a better experience for the product’s end users.  Again, inkjet represents exactly this kind of process innovation, which brings with it better experiences. For nearly all those who deliver MFPs to businesses, the move from laser to inkjet is so much more in line with the dealer’s infrastructure.

When executed correctly, this innovation will then allow the dealer to delve deeper into the accounts they serve to offer additional services. Dealers/resellers must first cut costs dramatically from their print business while delivering better experiences to the end-user they serve.

In closing: Some thoughts on Artificial Intelligence

As I believe most of the industry is chasing AI as just another buzzword.

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally about process change. Many in the print industry are distracted by AI and pursuing agendas based on how they believe it will add value to their outdated processes.

Those delivering print equipment to businesses seem to believe that the end user’s realities come second to what industry OEMs and their dealers deem essential.

In other words, the industry is attempting to create narratives around AI and print equipment that offer no benefits to end users, at least in a globally scalable way. In reality, AI will eliminate more dependency on printing or scanning.

2026 will be a defining year as OEMs realign their end-user distribution strategies and manufacturing priorities.

I will do my best to continue sharing insights on the 2026 season of The End of the Day with Ray. Stay tuned, my friends, and have a wonderful new year!

About the Author

Ray Stasieczko is a forward-thinking and often controversial writer and speaker. You may not want to agree with everything he says, but you are compelled to read and listen. To do otherwise could spell doom.

He has called the imaging channel home for over 30 years, served in various roles, and contributed over 100 articles to the industry’s publications. Ray has also spoken at the RT VIP Imaging Expos in Cairo, South America and China.

• Watch and subscribe to Ray Stasieczko’s industry-leading YouTube channel, “At the End of the Day with Ray.”
• You can contact and watch him on LinkedIn, where he has more than 30,000 followers

Read Ray’s other posts:

• Is Your Great Service Outdated?
• Are You Charging More for Your Value-added Service?
• Are Dealers Ready For The OEM Changes?
• Thoughts Over The Inkjet vs. Laser-based War!

• The Milk Man Never Dreamed His Route Would End
• Konica Minolta and the End of the FORZA Fantasy
• The Scary and the Scared
• Time to Call out HP Over its False Chip Claims
• Tough Words Konica Minolta Needs to Hear
• Colorless: The Day Businesses Stopped Printing in Color
• Is the Green Missing in HP Subscriptions? Join the conversation at LinkedIn
• Is A3 Market Share Relevant to Konica Minolta’s Future? NO
• The HP Trojan Horse to Capture Your Customers
• Xerox: Between the Digital and Physical Worlds
• ‘Five Years From Now’ Showed Up Early
• Meeting Standards Means Staying Relevant
• Thankfully My Doctor Wrote a Prescription Not My Obituary
• Business Opportunities Offered by this Pandemic
• That’s a Lot of Toner For a Market in Decline
• The Toner Wars Between Cartridge Suppliers
• When Will HP Write the Check to Xerox?
• The Imaging Channel is Not Alone in Needing Diversification
• Making Your Printer Consumables Business Profitable
• Are Acquisitions the Feel-good Drug in a Declining Market?
• Recognizing Disruption as a Creator and not a Competitor
• Managed Print Services is Not the Door to Managed IT Services