The OEM is making a move on one of the most potentially profitable business areas.
Despite being more well-known for its industrial and consumer printing operations, Epson has declared it is keen to enter the office printing market, where a number of new product releases will compete with those of Canon, Sharp and Ricoh.
“The office market is a big opportunity for us,” Epson UK managing director Rob Clark told ITProPortal. “The business as a whole is growing, we’re in a time of investment and growth. We understand that in order to break into this market, we have to bring a proposition that’s going to be compelling for the end user.”
To do this, Epson has put itself firmly behind inkjet printing technology, citing its multiple benefits, including its flexibility, efficiency, and ecological advantages. Unlike laserjet systems, inkjet does not emanate any heat or pressure, reducing the chance of a breakdown or the need for maintenance. It is also claimed by Clark that inkjet offers a 92 percent saving on waste, and 94 percent less CO2 emissions, which represent “a real step change” in this era of heightened ecological awareness.
“From our point of view, inkjet is the future of the office printer market,” Clark says. “We’ve made a significant investment in it – we wouldn’t be doing that if we didn’t believe in the technology and that we could drive it forward.” The statistics corroborate Clark’s optimism: Epson has revealed it took 40 percent of the European business inkjet market in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 15 percent from only two years ago.
It is clear, too, Epson is willing to back up its ambition with investment. It is putting a €400million ($470 million) investment into new production facilities in Japan and other markets, as well as €185 million ($217 million) towards developing its PrecisionCore inkjet technology over the next three years. With a recent IDC report valuing the total EMEA business print market at €38billion ($45 billion), the opportunities are lucrative, and it is understandable why Epson is keen to make an impact as soon as possible.