Promising most cost-efficient printing solutions to Indian home-users and professionals, Japan's Epson has come out with two unique printers where the printing cost is as low as 10 paise a page for black-and-white printouts and 20 paise for colour prints.
The digital imaging major has also introduced new technology where printers come with small ink tanks instead of conventional cartridges, thereby reducing printing costs and making its operation more convenient.
“We have come out with the world's first integrated ink tank system printers in India.
“We are always innovating to provide affordable, yet high performance printing solutions to help our customers lower their cost of printing…the Epson L100 inkjet printer (priced at Rs.8,999) and L200 all-in-one (Rs.10,999) were conceived especially keeping the typical Indian consumers requirements in mind,” said Epson India Deputy General Manager (Consumer Products) S.M. Ramprasad.
The new integrated ink tank system technology that Epson has introduced also addresses concerns regarding supply of non-genuine cartridges that not only affects print quality but also damages printers. “This new feature helps users increase productivity and save on printing costs,” he added.
Pointing out that Epson printers were also providing employment opportunity for individuals, Mr. Ramprasad said: “Our cost-effective printing solutions are ideal for people running cyber cafes and photocopy shops in small towns and villages as they can be deployed at shops to earn livelihood. For example, our portable photo printers are popular with photographers working in tourist places as it gives good photo prints instantly, thus helping them to earn money.”
Talking about the Rs.2,000-crore Indian printer market that is about 30-lakh units annually, Mr. Ramprasad said it was growing at 12-15 per cent annually, while Epson's growth has been around 25 per cent.
Market share
“We have now around 22 per cent market share, while we hope to capture around 30 per cent by this year end due to introduction of the two new printers. We are very strong in south and west India, while we are growing fast in north and eastern states,” Mr. Ramprasad added. Last fiscal, Epson India reported Rs.503 crore revenues while in 2011-12 it was aiming Rs.625 crore revenues.
