*NEWS*A TALE OF TWO TECHNOLOGIES

[Anonymous]

A tale of two technologies
Colour
is the word with 88 percent of medium businesses deploying colour
printers-inkjet or laser.Printers are a crucial segment in the
information technology sector.
It
is volume-driven both in terms of revenues and units and also among the
most dynamic. The concept of printing in the last couple of years has
undergone a paradigm shift. One of the major reasons for this can be
attributed to the rapid growth in printing technology. Rapid
technological changes, reduced costs (both of printers and
consumables), high usage of Internet, increasing functions and features
in printers and multi functional devices (MFDs) have contributed to the
growth of imaging and printing devices.

Strong hold of network printers
Organisations
are investing in network printers to enhance cost efficiencies. This is
an encouraging trend and will have implications for printer
manufacturers. The most common network printing implementation is a
print server accepting print jobs from clients tied to the server via a
network cable.Says Samir Shah, Country Category Manager, Shared
Printing and Connectivity, IPG, HP India, “Improved productivity along
with reduced cost of network printers have led to the technology being
favoured by medium enterprises. The increased IT adoption phenomena
along with the use of the Internet have also aided the penetration of
network printers.”Most respondents agree that efficient management of
printing activities can save time and cost, and network printers
provide these features. Informs Anand Sengupta, Head of IT Department,
Daikin India, “We prefer network printing as it reduces our running
cost and saves time. Our employees are using more than five network
printers and these printers are helping us to reduce our running cost.
Investing in network printers lets us monitor and control the cost of
printing.” Mid-sized organisations with over 500 employees are
realising that printing costs can be substantial if they aren’t
controlled. Costs can escalate when organisations expand.A couple of
years ago aspects like speed, functionality, and availability of
printer drivers were the basis for choosing a product. The features
that most enterprises now consider are workflow enhancement and degree
of control from the desktop.

Inkjet scores over laser
The
key driver for growth would be PC bundling by major vendors. Medium
enterprises and homes will remain the biggest buyers of bundled
offerings. As per the survey, penetration of inkjet printers is
relatively higher (85 percent) than lasers (55 percent) in the colour
printer category. 88 percent of medium business houses are using colour
printers. Colour inkjets have a stronger presence amongst medium
businesses. This segment is slowly shifting to personal laser printers
due to high printing and maintenance cost and lower print quality of
inkjet printers and all-in-ones (AIOs). Ajay Tyagi, Manager, Systems,
Relaxo Footware informs, “We look out for good after sales and service
support as well as price and technology. Printers should consume less
ink which reduces our running cost.”This segment uses a mix of both
lasers and inkjets. Their buying pattern is centered on current and
future printing requirements, the cost of printing, option of
networking, and sturdiness and performance. The users of this segment,
besides looking for low-cost printing, also demand a number of in-built
features. Features like multiple card readers, ability to be networked
and security are all important. Says Som Gangopadhyay, Marketing Head,
Office Systems and Solutions, Canon India, “The high penetration of
inkjet printers is on account of the fact that medium businesses are
cost conscious. Though inkjet printers have better penetration, these
companies are shifting towards laser printers. Enterprises should not
look at the cost of purchase of printers but at the TCO (total cost of
ownership). The various efficiencies that are introduced due to the use
of printers are also important.”There has been an ongoing debate on
which of these two technologies (laser and inkjet) is superior.
However, many analysts believe that the two technologies will co-exist
for sometime. Says Natesh Mani, Executive Director, New Office Group,
Xerox India, “We see a major shift from inkjet to laser printers driven
by the low equipment cost which makes laser printers extremely
affordable. Laser printers have emerged as solutions which vendors and
partners can position as a must-have for most corporate buyers.”
Research highlights
*
In the colour printer category, penetration of inkjet printers is
relatively higher (85 percent) than laser printers (55 percent).
* Penetration of colour printers among medium enterprises is 88 percent and is as high as 91 percent in manufacturing.
* Colour MFDs have the highest penetration in IT/ITeS (26 percent).

MFDs find middling acceptance
It
is primarily the medium businesses and SOHO segments that are driving
the consumption of MFDs, since large corporates with heavy-duty usage
usually prefer standalone devices. Going forward, this segment will
contribute substantially to the growth of laser printers and low-end
MFDs.Explains Shah, “The various functionalities of MFDs along with the
reduction in prices have led to better penetration of entry-level MFDs
among medium enterprises.”In laser printers, SOHOs and SMBs are
standardising on entry-level standalone and MFD models. This is
primarily driven by low acquisition costs and low cost per page.
Informs, Mahesh Chand Gupta, Senior Manager, IT, Jagatjit Industries,
“We have seven plants and 13 depots where we are using eight MFDs.
These MFDs are for both entry and high level. While making any decision
to purchase MFDs we will consider the quality and the price.”Reasons
for going colour with laser MFDs are convenience, increased security,
fast turnaround and savings on cost. Ability to connect as a network
printer and reduced total cost of ownership are also key factors.
Gangopadhyay informs, “Lower TCO, easy availability, proper after sales
and services support and advanced technology have helped the adoption
of high-end MFDs.”Other factors spurring the growth of high-end MFDs in
the document management space are decreasing acquisition and operation
costs. With prices falling to affordable levels, MFDs are today seen as
the first choice as an input device for many document management
solutions.

[Author]

June 6, 2006 at 12:43 PM