The Indian printer industry has evolved significantly in the last decade and with technological developments it has grown manifolds. The market is growing at a steady rate with high growth witnessed in many of its segments. These segments include inkjets for home and businesses, laser MFPs and wireless-enabled printers. On the whole, the industry is still on a growth path in India as against the global markets where it is fairly static.
“The Quarter starting from July to September has seen a flat growth with a minimal 1-2 % rise when talking of the overall printer market. Epson is one of the many brands that have clocked a high growth rate in terms of quantity and value shipments. And if we compare this figure with our growth last year, we have grown at a rate of 35%,” explains Ram Prasad, Deputy General Manager, Consumer Product Group, Epson India. Epson has caused quite a stir in the market in the last few quarters by launching many of its printer models on a new printing solution, the very unique ink tank system technology.
One of the significant trends in the printing industry today is the impact of the market forces and the adoption of mega trends viz cloud, mobility, security, BYOD in their product and solutions portfolio by printer vendors through enhanced features that enable easier adoption of these trends.
The ever-growing MFP market…
With an ever growing market for MFPs in India, this segment is clearly growing much faster. There has been a major shift in demand of laser based MFPs over ink MFPs. Demand for Multifunction Printers (MFPs) is increasing as they deliver enhanced functionality and productivity for an organization. Also, multifunctional devices have the edge over single function devices because of its increased adoption by small, medium size businesses as well as large enterprises. The other primary factors leading to MFP adoption are higher level of efficiency, lower total cost of ownership (TCO), high quality prints, ease of use and value that they offer. And now MFPs also have in-built capabilities that enable printing from cloud and mobile devices. These days they help workplaces of all sizes increase productivity and sustainability significantly and are a true enabler of BYOD scenarios with outstanding security features.
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| Nitin Hiranandani Director - Printing Systems, PPS HP India | V. Balakrishnan Executive General Manager-Marketing, Sales & Marketing Division, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. | Vipin Tuteja Executive Director, Technology, Channels & International Business, Xerox India | Ram Prasad Deputy General Manager, Consumer Product Group Epson India |
“Multifunction printers are definitely growing aggressively, both in the market and for Xerox. We have seen huge opportunities especially in the MFD segment which is largely due to its adoption by the SMB market and large enterprises. The laser MFD market is faring pretty well and provides us with a lot of business opportunities,” says Vipin Tuteja, Executive Director, Technology, Channels & International Business, Xerox India.
He further continues, “Today’s professionals need to operate beyond their office hours. Keeping that in mind, ConnectKey multifunction printers offer fully integrated mobile, scanning and cloud-based solutions. Xerox ConnectKey enabled MFPs come armored with many industry first features and connect the critical aspects of the future workforce- cloud, mobility, BYOD and security,” says Vipin.
“HP’s continued thrust on innovation has pushed the frontiers of printing technology over the years. However, across consumers and businesses, there has been a shift from single function to multi-function printers," views Nitin Hiranandani, Director - Printing Systems, PPS, HP India. Nitin also observes how in the MFD category modern inkjet printers are matching a laser printer in printing speeds and sharp printing quality. "Clearly, businesses looking for a smart, fast and affordable printing solution today have a great available selection when choosing an inkjet printer that perfectly matches their needs,” he says.
As per IDC, the laser segment grew last year by a whopping 44 per cent because of a sharp decline in prices. Laser printers have become more affordable with several models being available in the Rs sub-5k category as well. Under the LaserJet category, HP has introduced printers that help cut costs and streamline efficiency through productivity features, such as HP Smart Install and HP Auto-On/Auto-Off technology. It has been the leader in LaserJet technology and offers SMBs an unrivaled opportunity to accelerate growth through industry-first printing technologies and products that pay back.
Konica Minolta is in the Laser space with growth witnessed in both Single Function and Multi-Function Printers. “With superior technology and product performance we have been able to establish leadership in Production Printing and A3 Colour MFP segments as well. We have also done well in A3 Mono MFPs by consistently achieving the 2nd or 3rd position for the past few quarters. Our most recent foray is into the A4 segment,” shares V. Balakrishnan, Executive General Manager-Marketing, Sales & Marketing Division, Konica Minolta Business Solutions India Pvt. Ltd.
‘Green’ is the way ahead…
'Green' is the new mantra that every vendors are found chanting today. Paperless environment and Green measures are areas that companies are constantly investing in and deploying worldwide. The trend is slowly picking up in India too and a majority of enterprises and SMEs are exploring green printing and green IT.
“Konica Minolta was one of the first organizations to embrace Green Technologies in our products. Our Simitri Toner is ‘Green’. It has a very low melting point and enables us to save energy consumption in the thousands of devices we have installed since its introduction over 10 years ago. Similarly, there are many innovations in our products that enable organizations to achieve their ‘Green Objectives’,” says Balakrishnan.
Moreover Konica’s MFPs are designed on an Open API Platform that enables it to be integrated with many industry standard Document Management Systems, thereby once again enabling customers to limit their paper consumption and facilitating their paperless workflows.
Print consolidation and green initiatives are driving corporates to relook at their printer deployment and explore opportunities for savings; this is an area where HP is working with such organizations in providing solutions for balanced deployment and print fleet management, managing their work flow and helping adopt eco-friendly methods to save printing costs. “Additionally, we have introduced a range of printing solutions for large businesses that help them manage and optimize their imaging and printing infrastructure,” says Nitin.
Vipin explains, “We understand that not all prints are equally valuable; some are more valuable than the others and so we want to participate more in valuable print services. On the other hand, the areas which would be less valuable - typically what used to be called data centre printing, bank statement, HR communication etc that will go electronic - we need to help these companies go digital. Therefore the first strategy is to be where printing is valuable and the second strategy is to help companies become more digital, help them look at their business processes and take advantage of technology. We at Xerox have a role to play in both these sectors.”
Not without the Channel…
It would be wrong to overlook the role of the Channel here because it is they who know the market well and what the preferences of this market are like. While it has not been a very excellent year for them given the current economic conditions, vendors nonetheless have encouraged the Channel to put their best feet forward by introducing interesting schemes and programs suiting their needs.
“Our go-to-market strategy is completely through our partners and they are the face of the company to the outside world. Today, we ensure that our partners are well equipped not to just sell boxes but sell intelligent printing solutions,” shares Balakrishnan.
“At Xerox we believe that the partners are the face of the company to the customers and that they should have the knowledge of the entire Xerox portfolio. Channel partners are our extended team and they are the interface between Xerox solutions and our customers. The growth has been mutual; we have grown and expanded in India and have helped them grow in their businesses,” Vipin replies.
Reiterating its commitment towards the Channel community, Xerox has recently successfully concluded the Xerox Partner League. It was a platform to reward and encourage Xerox channel partners who had delivered remarkable performance, over achieved business targets and had provided new inroads for Xerox businesses.
“Our new programs are enabling partners to emerge as solutions provider and not just mere box pushers. New programs like Managed Print Services are designed with an aim to offer cost cutting features to the end customers while empowering partners in the growing market of India’s SMBs and mid-market segment. With the introduction of HP Partner One program we have made it simpler for our partners to enjoy a profitable business with us,” points out Nitin.
Few years down the line…
Printer market is still showing a growth trajectory as more and more people take to print. The need for printing is set to grow further as the economy expands. Optimistic of growing this market, vendors have set eyes on the MFP segment that has been doing extremely well and has topped the trends dominating the printer space. However, given the not-so satisfactory growth reported in the last few quarters and more so in the festive period, what is left to be seen are the strategies vendors will be employing to increase both their sale and market share. A lot depend on how innovatively will they introduce features and new technologies in their products without impacting the cost that will in some way help in boosting demand and eventually sale.
samrita@varindia.com
