- This topic has 0 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 9 years, 9 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
MFPs overtake lasers as printer market changes shape
September 2007 – The printer market is continually reinventing itself. Newer, faster and more converged printers are entering the market almost as fast as it takes to spew out paper copies.The trend in the traditional printer market is moving towards multifunctional products (MFPs) in both colour and black-and-white. Based on a study by local research company BMI, MFPs grew faster than the printer market in 2006 year-on-year, at 11.4%, versus 0.04%, which makes the MFP market bigger than the traditional laser printer market. Even inkjet technology declined 14.91% from 2005 to 2006.There is also a growing demand for printer networking, as workgroups can benefit from this.
However, colour printers have had the biggest growth over the past year, with a whopping 55.64% in printer market share. This can be attributed to growth in colour everywhere. No more are there black-and-white TVs, and even the CRT is disappearing and users are moving to colour LCD panel monitors.Printers are following the trend to colour. And as more players are launching colour devices, the option is becoming more affordable to end-users who are using colour in documents as a differentiator.Staying ahead of the game
Users today have a myriad printer technologies available to them from all major vendors. This makes the market very competitive. However, it is competition that fuels the market and encourages market growth, demand and innovation.Today printers lighten users’ loads through time-reducing features, along with dynamic printer driver interfaces. MFPs cater for every customer’s need. Ranging from personal direct-connect devices and personal copiers to full multifunctional network citizens, bringing great value to the office in a reduced budget.Integrated MFPs ensure high productivity for everyone in the office. No more time is wasted waiting for print and copy jobs. Clean sheet digital design means simpler paper paths, better designed user interfaces and intuitive feature selection, with no training required. And push-button copying, printing, faxing, scanning and e-mail deliver simplicity where the user needs it most.Ultimately, what differentiates various printer companies is having a wide range of award-winning products that provide value to-end users, world-class service, performance in productivity, ease of use and value.Catering for today’s market
In today’s market there are opportunities in imaging and archival as more customers are looking to outsource their work, which presents a huge opportunity for global services businesses.There is clearly a demand for colour and the short-run printing business is also growing, which offers an opportunity for production devices.Apart from the competitive price levels in MFP segments, companies in today’s market must offer cost control features and cost-saving benefits. These benefits will enable customers to reduce costs on paper and telephone charges and monitor usage through meter reads. The integrated multifunctional design must also enable customers to do their work faster and more effectively, thereby improving productivity. Devices mustn’t simply print or copy, but they should work together with ERP applications and integrate into workflows. Devices should also be Web-enabled.Products must ultimately be designed to be productive and cost-effective in order to help customers find better ways to do great work.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.