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AnonymousInactivehttp://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jan2009/id2009015_835497.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories
Samsung: Rethinking the Printer Business
Samsung’s bet that eye-catching design, and a partnership with Apple, would boost its share of the printer market is paying off
In
September 2007, Apple (AAPL) upstaged rival electronics retailers with
a new product available only at its 180 stores. Billed as the world’s
smallest laser printer, the SCX-4500 offered all the must-have features
of an Apple blockbuster: sleek good looks, buttonless touch controls,
and easy set-up. The logo on the front, though, wasn’t Apple’s. It
belonged to Samsung Electronics—one of the biggest suppliers of
flat-panel televisions, cellular phones, and refrigerators in
retailing—which created the stunning, piano-black printer. Intent on
toppling industry giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), the South Korean
consumer electronics giant spent three years working on its first
designer printer before teaming up with Apple for its introduction.For
years, Henry Ford has had nothing on printer manufacturers. Consumers
could have any color they wanted—as long as it was boring beige or
gray. But Samsung principal printer designer Bong Uk Lim wanted a new
aesthetic. His goal: to create a printer that doesn’t look like one.
“Most companies ask people to adapt to the product instead of the other
way around,” Lim says. “As you see with Apple, design is more important
than ever before for most products. The same can be made true for
printers.”
New ModelPretty printers? It’s hardly the razor
and blade model that has characterized the printer business, which
topped an estimated $130 billion in worldwide sales in 2008. Consumer
printers tend to be bulky plastic devices, built to sell at the lowest
price possible amid expectations that companies can profit handsomely
when customers run out of ink and toner and have to hurry to Best Buy
(BBY) or Staples (SPLS) to buy replacement cartridges.In a
well-guarded office tower in downtown Seoul, Lim gave his four-person
design team new marching orders to create a product design so
eye-catching that consumers might be willing to pay extra to have it.
To get design ideas, they pored over unconventional-looking products
from Bang & Olufsen, Nokia (NOK), and Nintendo and took apart
products such as high-end S.T. DuPont lighters. Moving to address a
major complaint that bulky printers take up valuable desk space, they
designed several prototypes. One was a space-saving circular printer
that rotates an ink cartridge to print on a page instead of moving it
back and forth. Another contraption, a dual-hinge flat printer that
looks like two square plates, hangs on the wall of one designer’s
cubicle.The designers settled on a slimmed-down,
black-and-white laser printer that measured just 5 inches
high—two-thirds the size of other desktop devices—and has a finish
reminiscent of a Steinway grand piano. To offer function with the form,
they added foam strips on the bottom to prevent the printer from
rattling and installed equipment to make it whisper-quiet. Instead of
buttons, they used blue LED lights and sensors that let users print,
scan, and make copies.
Paying for StyleIn Apple’s stores,
Samsung positioned the new $299 multifunction printer as a premium
product sold at a 25% markup over its nearest competitors, Gartner
analyst Don Dixon notes. “Style lets vendors differentiate and create a
strong brand image in increasingly commoditized markets, which can
translate into higher market share and margins,” he says. (A wireless
version of the printer, the SCX-4500W, is now available at the Apple
Store for $349.95.)A year after the printer’s introduction, the
results are encouraging. Already the world’s second-biggest printer
maker by volume, Samsung’s U.S. market share jumped to 3.6% in
September from 2.3% a year ago, according to market tracker IDC.
Worldwide, the company’s market share rose 25%, to 13.4%. J.W. Park,
president of Samsung Electronics’ digital media group, has told
designers to incorporate the sleek finish in some way even into giant
office printers as he moves to overtake HP as the world’s No.1 printer
maker by 2012.HP and other rivals are stepping up their own
design efforts. But David Murphy, head of HP’s LaserJet imaging
business, says most of the industry’s profits come from selling to
businesses, which use more ink than the average consumer. “For them,
it’s about the whole value proposition of having a product that does
the tasks you want it to,” Murphy says. “Then, form follows function.” -
AuthorJanuary 8, 2009 at 1:31 PM
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