A printing device for receiving data from a data source apparatus via a communication interface in which one of two connected communication apparatuses is a communication master and the other is a communication slave, the communication master being able to connect to a plurality of communication slaves but the communication slave being able to connect to only one communication master, does not suffer a deterioration in throughput even when the device becomes a communication slave upon reception of a connection request. When a printing device is connected to a first external device, and a connection request outputted from a second external device is detected, first the role of the printing device is set as a communication slave, and then, at a predetermined timing (for example, when a physical connection is established), the role of the printing device is switched from a communication slave to a communication master.
