According to the OEM, if trend levels continue, the two price points of colour and monochrome printing could meet in 2015.
It added that over the past five years, colour has been “steadily falling in cost, while monochrome has remained broadly constant”.
Phil Jones, Sales and Marketing Director, said: “Every firm could benefit from a colour printer, but the colour market is not as large due to the higher total cost of ownership compared to mono.
“The data is surprising and it is arguable that the two costs might never meet due to the added technical complexity in the manufacture of colour products. However, how many times has technology surprised us all?
“i-Pads, miniature microprocessors and nanotechnology are all things we could only dream of ten years ago, so why shouldn’t printers spring a shock on us too? Our new product development costs are continuing in this downward path, so maybe this trend could be right. We will wait and see.”
Tony Tarnowski, one of Brother’s technology experts, said: “Apart from demand for colour increasing and bringing economies of scale, the price of drums and toner has fallen over time and this has made colour printing more cost effective. These improvements are coupled to the fact that machines no longer need to use the full colour palette to make black, which has in turn reduced the cost per page.
“Other innovations have played into the hands of colour too, such as the fact that four pass printing is now a thing of the past, meaning that colour printing is now as quick as mono. The machines are also now very compact, which opens up the colour laser market to the home office market.”