InfoTrends conducts study into inkjet technology use in office printing, sees “bright future”.
The study, titled “Is Inkjet Printing Technology Ready to Transform the Office Printing Environment?”, saw InfoTrends survey approximately 50 existing business inkjet customers across 15 countries and 100 non-business inkjet customers in the same countries, incorporating businesses from a mixture of mature and emerging markets, with the market research company concluding that there could be potential for inkjet technology to be used in office environments.
Existing business inkjet customers were asked about their experiences with their business inkjet products in Brazil; China; the Czech Republic; France; Germany; India; Italy; Japan; Mexico; Poland; Russia; Singapore; South Korea; the UK and the US. Non-business inkjet customers in the same countries were tested for their unprompted acceptance of using inkjet technology in the workplace, as well as their opinion on the use of inkjet technology after being shown a video introducing the latest business inkjet technology, enabling InfoTrends to monitor any changes in their response.
From the results of the survey, InfoTrends states that it was able to make “a number of clear recommendations on the product features and functionality that business inkjet vendors should prioritise” in order for inkjet products to be accepted in mainstream SMB and enterprise workgroup printing across each major geographic region.
While InfoTrends estimates that approximately 73 percent of print devices used in offices during 2011 were laser-based and that the prevailing attitude in the industry is that laser devices are more appropriate for the workplace while inkjet devices are better suited for home use, it adds that it “sees a bright future for business inkjet in the office environment”. However, it believes that this is “largely dependent on vendors identifying and addressing the most important market needs”, with vendors needing to “ensure their product development efforts, and subsequent sales and marketing execution, resonate with business customers around the world”.