Demand for hard copies sustains printer market

CEBU, Philippines - Even with the paperless phenomenon at present, the Brother International Philippines Corporation (BIPC) remains bullish in the Philippine printer market with the existing and upbeat demand for hard copies.

IF BICP deputy general manager for sales and marketing Masao Kasagi were to be asked, the printer industry is growing and will continue to grow over the next 10 years.

Market intelligence provider International Data Corporation (IDC) meanwhile reported that the worldwide large format printer market posted a 6.2-percent year-over-year growth in the third quarter of  2013.

It recorded a market value of $802.8 million with around 77.7 thousand units shipped in the said period, thus registering an increase of 6.2-percent year-over-year.

The overall growth was attributed to the solid demand from the two largest geographic markets. These include the United States and Asia Pacific excluding Japan that both had 8.4 percent in shipment value.

Kasagi said that while they recognize the digital era, it is also important to note that the market still needs hard copies at some point especially among government offices and educational institutions.

He added that printing hard copies also remains applicable in the operations of other economic sectors such as health, financial, banking, and construction industries.

“There is still the need for hard bounds rather than the digital format. We still stick on paper somehow,” he said.

He shared that they observed the stable and sustained growth of the overall world printer market.

He said that while the US and Europe countries are considered matured as they are actively implementing the paperless policy to reduce carbon footprint, the company foresees potential growth in the Asia Pacific region particularly the emerging countries such as Philippines.

“It is growing steeply and dramatically. We believe in these countries like the Philippines, the printer industry has much potential to grow further,” he said.

He cited that among the preferred printer models include the inkjet technology that is commonly intended for small-office, home-office use and the monochrome laser printers that are often used by companies and firms.

Such promising market prompted the BICP to be more aggressive in its efforts towards constant innovation and product development particularly in monochrome laser printer/multi-function center models that are designed for consumers and business owners particularly in the Asia Pacific region.

BICP product manager Joel Eugenio said that they have lined up different series of  new cost-effective product models ranging from inkjet printers, sewing machines and fax machines among others to be introduced within this year.

He also cited that the growing mobile market and increasing smartphone users actually contribute to the strong performance of the printer market.

 â€œA lot of consumers still need it so we still produce printers,” he said. 

The company recently launched new range of inkjet multi-function centers that are specifically aimed to cater to high print-volume users who prefer low running cost.

Officials formally introduced to the Cebu market last Tuesday the three new models DCP-J100 InkBenefit and DCP-J105 InkBenefit that are both 3-in-1 inkjet multi-function centers and the MFC-J200 InkBenefit which is a 4-in-1 inkjet multi-function center.

The latest products boast of low ink cost for P390 per catridge with a 2, 400-page yiled for black cartridge and 1,300-page yield for the colored ones.

They also feature the Brother’s original lamination technology for high-volume and fast-speed printing and Piezo technology for safer and lower temperature operation. (FREEMAN)