A practical recap of the latest ITEX office equipment conference
ITEX is the office imaging industry's North American annual gathering — smaller than drupa but focused specifically on the office MFP dealer ecosystem. Here is what the recent edition covered and what it signals for the broader industry.
Event context
ITEX (the Imaging Channel Show formerly known as the International Technology Exposition) gathers office MFP dealers, manufacturers, and adjacent service providers annually in the United States. The 2025 edition convened in Las Vegas with approximately 2,000 attendees representing dealer principals, regional managers, and manufacturer relationship teams from across North America. While the geography is North American, the topics discussed track closely with European and Spanish industry concerns.
Six themes from the latest edition
Dealer consolidation acceleration
The dealer consolidation theme dominated session content. Multiple sessions focused on how independent dealers navigate the consolidation environment — whether to sell, when to acquire, and how to maintain competitive position against larger consolidators. The North American dealer landscape is consolidating along similar patterns to Spain and the broader EU.
Services revenue dominance
Services represent the dominant revenue stream for most attending dealers. Sessions emphasised converting hardware-centric customer relationships to multi-year MPS contracts. The Spanish parallel: services revenue exceeds hardware revenue for most major Spanish dealers in 2026, with the trend continuing.
AI integration tactical applications
Rather than high-level AI discussions, ITEX sessions focused on tactical applications dealers can actually offer customers in 2025-2026. Document classification, invoice processing automation, contract review acceleration — concrete applications with measurable ROI. The pragmatic framing differs from the more aspirational AI content at broader industry events.
Workforce development concerns
Technician recruitment and retention emerged as a substantial industry-wide concern. The technician workforce ages without sufficient new entrants. Sessions addressed apprenticeship programs, partnerships with technical colleges, and remote support technologies that extend each technician's reach. The same workforce concerns apply in Spain.
Sustainability as customer demand
Customer sustainability expectations have shifted from "nice to have" to "procurement requirement" for enterprise accounts. Dealers reported needing to substantiate environmental claims, provide carbon footprint reports, and demonstrate circular economy programs. The Spanish situation is similar but with EU regulatory pressure adding firmer requirements.
Cybersecurity as service line
Some dealers reported building cybersecurity services around the MFP — vulnerability assessment, configuration hardening, security audit reports. The MFP-adjacent security services produce attachment revenue and deepen the customer relationship. The pattern is repeatable in the Spanish market for dealers willing to invest in the capability.
What Spanish dealers can learn from ITEX
The North American dealer ecosystem leads the European market in several specific areas worth Spanish operators noting. MPS sophistication is more mature in North America with dealers operating more advanced fleet management platforms; Spanish dealers are catching up but lag. Services revenue mix is further advanced in North America with several dealers reporting 75%+ services share; Spanish dealers average around 60-65%. Cybersecurity services attachment is more common in North America; few Spanish dealers have built this line. Each of these gaps represents potential opportunity for Spanish dealers who close them.
Manufacturer presence
Major manufacturer presence at ITEX continues but with reduced focus on hardware demos and increased focus on services, software, and dealer enablement. The trend reflects the broader industry shift from product transactions to service relationships. Manufacturers use ITEX increasingly for dealer relationship management rather than customer-facing product launches.
Adjacent event landscape
ITEX sits in a North American event ecosystem that includes Inkjet Summit (production inkjet focused), PRINTING United (broader print industry, alternating years), and various manufacturer-specific dealer summits. For Spanish dealers tracking North American industry developments, ITEX and PRINTING United are the most useful events for office MFP industry focus.
Why Spanish operators should care about North American events
The North American office MFP industry leads several global trends by 1-3 years. MPS service model maturity, dealer consolidation patterns, cybersecurity attachment, and sustainability-as-procurement-requirement all emerged earlier in North America before reaching European and Spanish markets. Tracking North American event content provides preview signal for what arrives in Spain over the following 18-36 months. ITEX coverage represents a leading indicator for Spanish dealer strategy planning.
What did not appear at ITEX
Notably absent or under-represented at ITEX: substantial production class hardware (that lives at PRINTING United and drupa), packaging print (separate event ecosystem), and direct-to-customer technology demos. ITEX is primarily a dealer-to-manufacturer and dealer-to-software-vendor relationship event rather than a customer-facing technology showcase. The format suits its purpose but limits its relevance for direct end-customer technology evaluation.
Looking ahead to the next ITEX
The next ITEX continues the established format with sessions concentrated on dealer business model evolution, services maturity, AI tactical applications, sustainability, and cybersecurity. The Spanish dealer community has limited direct attendance at ITEX but the topics translate well across markets and recorded session content provides useful intelligence for Spanish operators tracking the broader industry direction.