*NEWS*PRINTER MARKET POISED FOR GROWTH

[Anonymous]

Driven by Technology Innovations Printers Market Poised for Renewed Growth
PALO
ALTO, Calif., Feb.07- Despite the constant need among organizations to
shift to a paperless working environment, printing technology has
survived and grown considerably in the last couple of years. Inkjet and
laser technologies continue to see wide-scale acceptance. Market
factors and the emergence of new application areas are driving these
technologies. Prime motivators for the development of inkjet printing
include next generation applications such as printed electronics and
organ printing, and for laser printers, they are the product price and
the need for laser color printing solutions.

“Other key factors
driving inkjet and laser printing technologies include growing demand
for cost-efficient quality prints and the increasing need and use of
color printing,” notes Technical Insights Research Analyst Subrahmania
Janakiraman. “These apart, wireless printing, document management
systems, and the increasing use of multi-functional devices (MFDs) are
likely to play a crucial role in the growth and development of these
technologies.”
Inkjet printing is beginning to find a whole array of
applications with minor modifications in its basic construction.
Innovations in the printhead, inks, and dispensing system are finding
increasing researchers. Concerning application, inkjet printing is
already finding use in the printed electronics domain, with organ
printing in the future (around the 2010 timeframe). Advertising is
another domain garnering research interest in big format printers.
Printing directly from a PC onto the medium is becoming the norm and
this computer-to-plate technology can compete with offset printing in
terms of its final print quality.

Wireless printing and document
security are two other drivers gaining importance in secure printing.
Ensuring document safety, while wirelessly printing the same is, to a
certain extent, driving minor innovations in parallel, yet
complementary technological domains.Significantly, pricing is becoming
a key issue for laser printer penetration into the inkjet printer
market. To cater to this requirement, companies can look forward to
migrating manufacturing to lower cost countries, and hence reap the
benefits. From a technology perspective, the use of light emitting
diodes (LEDs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) could spell a
reduction in overall prices of the same. On a global level, companies
can look forward to creating region (or country)-specific solutions,
rendering them price sensitive (with a slight compromise on final print
quality).Concerning challenges, document security is probably the
single most important issue confronting manufacturers. While printers
with sufficient security features for safe printing of documents are
essential, the software aspect of printing needs to address the issue
of wireless security in a secure environment.

“Companies need to
have a more comprehensive look at document management and security, to
cater to the very dynamic and uncertain working environment,” says
Janakiramna. “Access codes and finger print matching is the way for
overcoming security-related challenges.”
To conclude, future
applications could largely dictate the success of inkjet technology.
For laser printing, providing a mass market appeal using smart pricing
options would help it penetrate the stronghold of inkjet printing and
the development of color printing (especially for the low end market)
is another factor that would enable its long-term growth in comparison
with inkjet printing. From a product cost perspective, migration to
lower cost countries is essential for sustained profits within each
technology segment.

Advances in Printing Technology &
Equipment is part of the Electronic Devices Subscription. It provides
insights on inkjet, laser, digital and large format printing
technologies. In this research, Frost & Sullivan’s expert analysts
thoroughly examine the following applications: printed electronics,
business printing, commercial printing, and application in the medical
organ printing domains.

[Author]

February 28, 2007 at 11:38 AM