The OEM’s quarterly results saw revenue increase by 17.1 percent, with inkjets making up 74 percent of segment revenue.
Epson’s RIPS bags
The results saw the OEM reveal a revenue increase for the quarter of 17.1 percent to ¥266.5 billion ($2.3 billion/€1.8 billion), with the information equipment segment – including printers, consumables and MPS – growing in revenue year-over-year by 20 percent to ¥221.4 billion ($1.9 billion/€1.5 billion).
Epson stated that “revenue and business profit exceeded our business plan owing to yen depreciation and steady growth in each of the businesses in the information equipment segment”. The information equipment segment “saw printing systems increase” year-over-year by 16.2 percent, to ¥169.2 billion ($1.5 billion/€1.2 billion), and Epson noted that inkjet printer revenue was “up on strategic growth in high-capacity ink tank models and consumables sales”, making up 74 percent of the information equipment segment.
The high-capacity ink tank models, which The Recycler reported on earlier this year, have seen “solid growth in emerging markets” and “began selling in Western Europe” in the second half of the year, with the OEM projecting sales of 2.5 million units worldwide by the end of the 2014 financial year. In turn, both MPS and RIPS (the replaceable ink pack systems used in the ink tank machines), saw orders “growing smoothly in Japan”, with “customer response favourable”, and sales begun in Western Europe “on schedule”.
The information equipment unit also saw “strong consumables sales” and strong POS (point of sale) machine sales in Europe and the USA. Predictions for the second half of the year from the OEM included “no major changes expected in business environment or plan assumptions”, but “performance-linked expenses [will] increase”, and an increase in expenditures has been postponed”.
In terms of the information equipment segment, one positive prediction from the OEM is that “unit shipments of high-capacity ink tank models and projectors [will] increase”, but it warns that “special factors affecting inkjet consumables” and “investment in strategic product sales promotions” will affect the unit’s half year results”. It expects that the segment will grow to ¥888 billion ($7.9 billion/€6.3 billion), with ¥686 billion ($6.1 billion/€4.8 billion) from printing systems for a 35.3 percent year-over-year increase – inkjet printers are set to make up 75 percent of this revenue.