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The print industry is seeing consumers move away from standalone copiers, printers, scanners and fax machines to all-in-one multifunction products (MFPs). Consolidating old office equipment into a single networked device can reduce supply and repair costs, while the advanced features of better MFPs (and be warned, they're not all created equal) can make employees more productive. MFPs can process numerous printing jobs while allowing other users to scan and fax documents simultaneously, and their footprints are teeny compared to those of their bulky ancestors.

Mobility drives wireless printing
The need for printing from mobile access devices will drive Bluetooth adoption in printers. IDC Smart handheld research predicts that 80% of handheld devices shipped in 2006 will be embedded with Bluetooth. The ability to print easily and affordably is one of the primary concerns of mobile device users. A high percentage of business users want to print directly from their mobile devices. In a survey conducted by IDC, 48% of handheld users and 32% of cellular/PCS users indicate they would like to print. This suggests a very large target market. In another survey by Lyra Research, 75% of surveyed PDA and PDA/Phone users state they are either "somewhat interested" or "very interested" in the ability to print directly from their mobile device.