An information processing apparatus includes circuitry to acquire information relating to an actual usage record of an output device in a customer environment, and predict an amount of usage of the output device for a predetermined period of time of a target year based on the acquired information. In predicting, the circuitry calculates an amount of usage of the output device for a year-ago predetermined period of time corresponding to the predetermined period of time of the target year, and predicts the amount of usage of the output device for the predetermined period of time of the target year as being equal to the calculated amount of usage of the output device for the-year ago predetermined period of time.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. An information processing apparatus comprising: circuitry to: acquire information relating to an actual usage record of an output device in a customer environment; and predict an amount of usage of the output device for a predetermined period of time of a target year based on the acquired information, wherein, in predicting, the circuitry calculates an amount of usage of the output device for a year-ago predetermined period of time corresponding to the predetermined period of time of the target year, and predicts the amount of usage of the output device for the predetermined period of time of the target year as being equal to the calculated amount of usage of the output device for the-year ago predetermined period of time. 2. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein, in predicting, the circuitry obtains a regression function based on an actual usage record of the output device for another predetermined period of time that is longer than the year-ago predetermined period of time, and selectively uses an amount of usage based on the regression function or the calculated amount of usage for the year-ago predetermined period of time, as the predicted amount of usage. 3. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry predicts the amount of usage of the output device for the predetermined period of time of the target year based on a combination of the calculated amount of usage of the output device for the year-ago predetermined period and the regression function. 4. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a counter value that increases in accordance with usage of the output device, and the circuitry predicts a total amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment based on the counter value. 5. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a plurality of counter values corresponding to a plurality of functions of the output device, each counter value increasing in accordance with usage of the corresponding function of the output device, and the circuitry predicts the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment for each of the plurality of functions of the output device based on the plurality of counter values. 6. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a plurality of counter values corresponding to a plurality of paper sizes, each counter value increasing in accordance with usage of a print function of the output device, and the circuitry predicts the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment for each of the plurality of paper sizes based on the plurality of counter values. 7. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a plurality of counter values corresponding to a color output and a monochrome output, each counter value increasing in accordance with usage of a print function of the output device, and the circuitry predicts the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment for each of the color output and the monochrome output based on the plurality of counter values. 8. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a plurality of counter values corresponding to a plurality of editing functions and a plurality of finishing functions of the output device, each counter value increasing in accordance with usage of the corresponding editing function or finishing function of the output device, and the circuitry predicts the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment for each of the plurality of editing functions and the plurality of finishing functions based on the plurality of counter values. 9. The information processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to generate screen data to be displayed at a client terminal, the screen data including a result of the predication of the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment. 10. A method of predicting an amount of usage of an output device in a customer environment performed by an information processing apparatus, the method comprising: acquiring information relating to an actual usage record of the output device in the customer environment; and predicting an amount of usage of the output device for a predetermined period of time of a target year based on the acquired information, wherein, the predicting calculates an amount of usage of the output device for a year-ago predetermined period of time corresponding to the predetermined period of time of the target year, and predicts the amount of usage of the output device for the predetermined period of time of the target year as being equal to the calculated amount of usage of the output device for the-year ago predetermined period of time. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the predicting obtains a regression function based on an actual usage record of the output device for another predetermined period of time that is longer than the year-ago predetermined period of time, and selectively uses an amount of usage based on the regression function or the calculated amount of usage for the year-ago predetermined period of time, as the predicted amount of usage. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the predicting the amount of usage of the output device for the predetermined period of time of the target year is performed based on a combination of the calculated amount of usage of the output device for the year-ago predetermined period and the regression function. 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a counter value that increases in accordance with usage of the output device, and the predicting is predicting a total amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment based on the counter value. 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a plurality of counter values corresponding to a plurality of functions of the output device, each counter value increasing in accordance with usage of the corresponding function of the output device, and the predicting is predicting the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment for each of the plurality of functions of the output device based on the plurality of counter values. 15. The method of claim 10, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a plurality of counter values corresponding to a plurality of paper sizes, each counter value increasing in accordance with usage of a print function of the output device, and the predicting is predicting the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment for each of the plurality of paper sizes based on the plurality of counter values. 16. The method of claim 10, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a plurality of counter values corresponding to a color output and a monochrome output, each counter value increasing in accordance with usage of a print function of the output device, and the predicting is predicting the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment for each of the color output and the monochrome output based on the plurality of counter values. 17. The method of claim 10, wherein the information relating to the actual usage record of the output device is a plurality of counter values corresponding to a plurality of editing functions and a plurality of finishing functions of the output device, each counter value increasing in accordance with usage of the corresponding editing function or finishing function of the output device, and the predicting is predicting the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment for each of the plurality of editing functions and the plurality of finishing functions based on the plurality of counter values. 18. The method of claim 10, further comprising generating screen data based on which a result of the predication of the amount of usage of the output device in the customer environment is displayed at a client terminal. 19. An information processing system comprising: circuitry to: acquire information relating to an actual usage record of an output device in a customer environment; and predict an amount of usage of the output device for a predetermined period of time of a target year based on the acquired information, wherein, in the predicting, the circuitry calculates an amount of usage of the output device for a year-ago predetermined period of time corresponding to the predetermined period of time of the target year, and predicts the amount of usage of the output device for the predetermined period of time of the target year as being equal to the calculated amount of usage of the output device for the-year ago predetermined period of time.