Computer & Office Equipment Repair

Industry Profile Report

Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters

Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.

Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.

Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.

Industry Profile Excerpts

Industry Overview

The 4,500 industry firms in the US repair and maintain computers and office machinery, including terminals, storage devices, network devices, printers, and copiers. Computer and office equipment repair providers typically operate as third-party maintenance (TPM) providers. They may serve a broad range of customers or specialize in a particular vertical, such as manufacturing or healthcare.

Competition from Alternative Sources

Original equipment manufacturers (OEM) still dominate the computer and office equipment maintenance and repair market.

Replace Versus Repair

Falling prices characterize the information technology industry, and, in many cases, customers may choose to replace older hardware rather than repair and maintain aging technology.

Industry size & Structure

The average computer and office equipment repair firm operates out of a single location, employs fewer than 10 workers, and generates about $1 million annually.

    • The computer and office equipment repair industry consists of about 4,500 firms that employ about 30,200 workers and generate about $4.7 billion annually.
    • The industry is concentrated at the top and fragmented at the bottom; the top 50 companies account for about 45% of industry revenue. According to Gartner, a limited number of firms generate more than $100 million in TPM revenue, and most providers generate less than $10 million from TPM.
    • Large firms, which include SMS/Curvature, Maintech, Park Place Technologies, and Service Express, may have international operations.
    • TPMs maintain more than 10 million data center/network storage devices, according to Gartner.
                                Industry Forecast
                                Computer & Office Equipment Repair Industry Growth
                                Source: Vertical IQ and Inforum

                                Recent Developments

                                May 1, 2023 - Workplace Occupancy Remains Below 50%
                                • Workplace occupancy, an indicator of demand for computer and office equipment repair, was 49.6% for the seven-day period ending on April 19, up from 46.3% for the seven-day period ending on April 12, according to data gathered from swipes of access control cards in buildings with security systems provided by Kastle Systems. Occupancy has rarely hit the 50% mark since the early days of the pandemic despite attempts by many organizations to bring employees back. The Austin, TX, metropolitan area had the highest occupancy for the seven-day period ending on April 19 at 63.2%. The San Jose, CA, metropolitan area trailed all others tracked at 38.8%.
                                • Proposals in at least 23 states would require electronics companies and other manufacturers to make the tools, parts, and information needed to fix their products reasonably available, according to Bloomberg Law. The state-level activity follows first-in-the-nation laws in New York and Colorado. Opponents, from John Deere equipment dealers to groups representing Samsung and Apple, have said that company-authorized repair programs benefit consumer safety. Opponents also raised concerns that the bills would violate intellectual property protections.
                                • The New York state legislature passed in June 2022 the country's first “right to repair” bill covering electronics, but some experts say that amended language added before the bill was signed into law in late December makes it toothless. The Digital Fair Repair Act, which goes into effect on July 1, 2023, requires manufacturers to provide owners and independent repair shops the manuals, parts, diagnostics, and diagrams necessary to repair “digital electronic equipment.” There are some carve-outs, including cars, home appliances, medical devices, off-road equipment, and enterprise devices used by data centers, schools, and hospitals. The legislation only applies to items manufactured after July 1, 2023, and it doesn’t require manufacturers to volunteer any security unlocking codes needed to repair a device. It also lets the manufacturers decline to deliver specific components if they think “the risk of improper installation heightens the risk of injury.”
                                • The US office vacancy rate, an indicator of demand for computer and office equipment repair, was 18.7% in Q4 2022, up from 18.5% in Q3, and 18.1% in Q4 2021, according to real estate analytics firm Reis. It was the highest vacancy rate for offices since 1992. Demand may decrease as the vacancy rate increases.
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