How do you differentiate Epson’s products from its competitors in the industry?

Jason McMillan, Sales Director – ME, Epson

Each day, Epson invests about €1.14 million (AED 4.12 million) into R&D, as a reflection of how important innovation is for the company. Epson has pledged to become carbon-negative and underground resource free by 2050 and has committed €73 billion (AED 264.47 billion) to sustainability developments. This focus on creating technology that not only saves businesses and consumers money and time but also helps to save energy, reduce water consumption and push boundaries, is what differentiates Epson technology from competitors.

Briefly explain a case study of Epson’s major enterprise-level installations in the Middle East

Epson has successfully delivered innovative solutions to support a diverse cross-section of organizations across the region. These include organizations such Mediclinic, Art Coast, Arab Fashion Week, and Theatre of Digital Art (ToDA).  To bring this to life, GITEX 2022 visitors can stop by the ToDA zone at the Epson stand to experience immersive solutions that deliver memorable, unique customer engagement opportunities.

One of our most recent case studies with Mediclinic helped the organization meet its day-to-day printing needs with convenient, compatible, and sustainable printing options.

How do you evaluate the changing trends in the professional world and how does Epson plan to orient itself to address the ever-increasing market needs?

Products and solutions that facilitate remote work, devise digital transformation, and promote sustainability are getting desirable attention these days. Epson is fully equipped with adequate technologies and solutions to address it all!

When it comes to evaluating the changing trends, we realize that enterprises are massively switching their reliance from legacy technologies to the latest technologies that facilitate hybrid work.

Inkjet heat-free technology for printers is Epson’s great leap towards sustainability as we understand there is no getting away from the fact that we’re facing a global climate crisis. It is important to turn down the heat and move towards low power consumption.

Jason McMillan, Sales Director – Middle East, Epson

With inkjet technology in printing, we avoid two levels of heating – preheating the fuser, and using heat to fuse the toner to the paper – and reduce complexity in the printing process.

Alongside achieving sustainability goals, these devices offer huge flexibility in usage. Equally, they reduce the overall cost of printing with far less waste and far lesser user intervention. These features can make a huge impact on the daily running of small and medium-scale businesses as you are

Speak about the latest projection technology Epson brings out to the market

For enhanced learning and collaborative work, Epson comes up with pen-interactive and interactive finger-touch projector technologies. Multiple users can involve in the dual-pen annotation that these projectors offer and one of them supports finger touch besides dual-pen. With large displays and cutting-edge projection technologies, our projection devices cater to the needs of businesses as well.

What types of enterprises or verticals are your target and how do you handle the competition?

We have printing devices for all segments, from consumer home devices to enterprise products. Most of the enterprise solutions we come up with would suit almost every segment of the market – same with professional AV devices (i.e., projectors, projection mapping, and display devices).

In this region, we have nearly 70-75 percent of the market share in the education sector. Although industrial projection had taken a major hit by the pandemic, we still lead as projection solutions providers. Most pavilions at Expo 2020 in Dubai use Epson’s projection mapping technology that showcases market strength and keeps us far ahead of our competitors.

Speaking about competition in the printing segment, some of the printer manufacturers are our competitors for many years and we welcome fair competition. The difference between us and all of the other vendors at the moment is that we release only inkjet printers. In the Middle East and many other parts of the world, we don’t bring any laser-based technology any longer. Similarly, our competitors still find it hard to match with the Micro Piezo printhead technology we use.

Why do you strongly advocate a sustainability business model? 

Well, it can’t be ignored any longer!

Unless things change, we are soon going to see some drastic changes to our planet’s ecosystems. One of the things we can change is how we consume energy. Burning fossil fuels to create electricity produces vast amounts of CO2. As a company and individuals, we need to act to save energy and start using renewable energy sources. Making a sustainable choice is now essential, not optional.

“Whether it’s delivering an optimal hybrid learning or working environment, or the most dynamic immersive entertainment experience, Epson aims to enhance how the region’s companies drive their business dynamically,” said Jason McMillan, Sales Director, Epson-Middle East.

Here’s a list of solutions that Epson presents during GITEX:

Business solutions: Interactive display solutions, such as projectors and visualizers, for physical distancing in meeting rooms and more engaging presentations for remote workers.

Retail solutions: Epson offers several products such as TM-m30II-S mPOS devices and ColorWorks C6000 label printers that can transform point-of-sale and customer experiences, improve brand communication, and reduce cost and paper waste in the process. Epson will also display digital signage solutions and projectors.

Education solutions: Epson’s simple educational switches include interactive display solutions, education document cameras, inkjet printers, and scanning solutions for an optimal learning environment.

Home solutions: Epson will also launch scalable and cost-effective streaming solutions for home viewing and gaming experiences, as part of compact and affordable home solutions.

Sustainability: The ‘Turn Down the Heat’ campaign, a collaboration between Epson and National Geographic, aims to encourage and raise awareness of how businesses can reduce their impact on global warming and will also be activated at the stand.

No matter how much visual chaos has been created, the ever-growing display market attached to it values over $166 billion, and that is spread across a dozen industry verticals!

The display market has already redrawn our conventional angles of viewing and showing. Its current foray into newer markets appropriates steady expansion of LED in the commercial display sector to flexible display in consumer electronics. When it comes to studying display, there are three major market segments, which are display type, technology, and application. All of them have been occupied mostly by global corporations. Regional players also closely contest in this professional B2B market. Samsung, LG, Sharp NEC, Panasonic, Hitachi, BenQ, Epson are to name a few, who pose cross-vertical competition.

“Although North America contributes a large to the display market, the Asia-Pacific region forecasts the highest growth with an average of 11.7 percent in the next five years to come.”

Staunching Presence of Commercial Display in the Market

From healthcare to aviation, from retail to automobile, and from BFSI to defense, the commercial display has marked its solid presence. Concerning the commercial display market, it isn’t technological advancement that creates a huge impact but dependability on technology and its market acceptance. The B2B display market demands robust devices as they often get exposed to changing weather conditions or extensive use for long hours. Most hardware manufacturers and service providers concentrate on a specific area to have their dominance. Presumably, it gives them ease to handle market challenges.

Let’s look at key sectors and dominant market payers.

Healthcare Demands Clarity and Precision

The medical and healthcare sector is consistently in need of robust communication devices. The clarity and precision they offer directly Influence the decision of medical practitioners. When it comes to reviewing technical aspects of monitors and other display devices, their brightness, noise, viewing angle, and durability to withstand disinfectants are major considerations. Healthcare command centers and workspaces are also needed for high-end devices.

The global medical display market has been valued at $2052 million in 2019 and the estimated growth rate (CAGR) during 2020-2027 is 4.9 percent. Samsung, Barco, AG Neovo, PLANAR, Sharp NEC are the companies that invest and bring out competent technologies into the field besides tightly chasing the competition.

Healthcare Display Devices:

• Hospital Administration Monitors
• Self-Service Kiosk
• Doctor Room Monitors
• Dental Monitors
• Multi-Modality Display Devices

Digital Disruption in Retail Display Sector

The retail display industry is more incandescent when it comes to evaluating the competition and technological advancements. Digital signages of advertising are flagbearers of growth in this sector. Whether it’s about interactive in-store posters or eye-catching out-of-home (OOH) advertisements, they are always within our short vicinity.

With the arrival of the newest and energy-efficient technologies such as OLED and micro-LED, the investments in high resolution (4K and 8K) and large-size (52 to 75 inches and above 75 inches) displays have increased tremendously. Be it a simple restaurant menu or a gigantic shopping festival display, devices at incredible capacities are produced and supplied by leading companies as well as local players.

Samsung Electronics dominates the market since 2009 with a market share of 23 percent and the following are LG (12 percent), SeeWo (6.1 percent), NEC (5.8 percent), Philips (4.2 percent). The global display market is valued at $38,444 million in 2018 and is forecasting growth by an average of 7.7 percent during 2019- 025.

Retail Display Devices

• Signages (Outdoor and Indoor)
• Video Wall
• Interactive Displays

Infotainment Drives Automotive Display Market

“The global automotive display market is projected to reach USD 39.7 billion by 2027 from an estimated USD 18.4 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 13% from 2021 to 2027,” says, a recent research report by Market Research Future (MRFR). Increasing demand for infotainment, reliable navigation systems, and the development of connected vehicles significantly driving the automotive display market. The capability of internal screens is enhanced as they could display internal temperatures of engines, tire pressure, and safety belt indications. The use of the screens to caste OTT platforms through smartphones is another area of improvement that took place recently.

One of the breakthroughs of the automotive display market is the availability of flexible display devices. Vehicle cockpit can’t approve of large or stiff installations and custom-designed screens can easily blend with a vehicle’s design. Along with energy-saving TFT-LCD technology, flexible displays capture the market and established dominance. By technology, demands are including high-resolution, large screen, and highly accurate in-touch technology, 3D technology, and IPS (In-panel Switching) technology.

Seeing the presence of major automotive manufacturers, Europe anticipates dominance in the automotive display market. France, Germany, and the U.K. are major contributors to the regional market. APAC is expected to register a remarkable growth rate over the forecast period. Delphi Technologies, Visteon Corporation, Magneti Marelli S.p.A, LG Display Co. Ltd, Nippon Seiki Co. Ltd, Qualcomm Technologies Inc, Continental AG, Robert Bosch GmbH, Panasonic Corporation, and 3M are the key players in the automotive sector.

Resurge of Aviation Display Market

Today’s airport terminals are quite more than facilities for air transportation. Apart from regular flight information display systems (FIDS), they harbor interactive wayfinding and entertainment solutions, digital posters, video walls, large-screen projections, and more. Some are kept by the retail outlets, restaurants, lounges set up inside the terminal complex. Not only display systems established their prominence presence in airport terminals but also in aircraft – enhancing in-flight interactivity.

The FIDS market had 4 percent of CAGR until December 2019. The COVID19 pandemic has created a huge economic slowdown and the aviation industry was the first one to take the shot. However, Market Watch reports a resurge of the FIDS market and estimates a good growth rate between 2020-25. AirIT, Dameral Systems International, NEC, Simpleway, and Gentrack are some of the key players in the market. LED, OLED, LEC are the main display technologies used.

Aviation-Focused Display Products:

• FIDS
• Airport Control Room Displays
• Wayfinding Displays
• Video Walls
• Interactive Posters
• Avionics Application Displays
• In-Flight Entertainment

Consumer Electronics Rely on Technological Advancements

The display market pertaining to consumer electronics generates nearly 50 percent of the overall global display revenue. While appropriate the surge of smartphone and tablet sales to the growth rate of OLED would help us to recognize the driving force. Unlike commercial display, technology becomes the only crusader of growth and advancement. OLED technology offers high resolution and clarity on consumer electronic devices include wearables. Also, its challenges to face odd weather or temperature conditions are way too less than that of commercial display devices.

OLED technology anticipates 15 percent of CAGR in the coming years and the burgeoning m-commerce practices keep the pace of growth intact. Similar lines of commercial display, the Asia Pacific (APAC) region foresee a high rate of growth.

Consumer Electronic Display Products

• Smartphones
• Wearables
• Cameras
• Monitors
• Appliances

Defense Display

Display installations on military vehicles, control rooms, and devices used by soldiers refer to defense display devices. These devices are extensively used for training, combat management, surveillance, and logistics and administration by the navy, army, coast guard, and others.

Major considerations when it comes to manufacturing display devices for military use are simplicity in operation, compact design, high-resolution, vibration and heat resistance, fit for harsh environmental conditions, and unbreakable. The major vendors of military display devices are Bluestone Technologies, Getac Technology Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, General Dynamics Corporation, Assured Systems Ltd., Aydin Displays, Crystal Group, General Digital, ZMicro, etc.

Defense Display Devices

• Rugged Monitors
• Military-Grade Work Stations
• Standard Monitors
• Rack-Mount Flip LCD Monitors
• Waterproof Sealed LCD Monitors
• Open Frame LCD Monitors

The growth and advancements of the display market were steady over two decades. While technological evolutions, i.e., CRT to LCD, LCD to LED, LED to OLED, helped to scale growth, the overlap and fusion of technology have also contributed to the expansion of industry verticals. The inception of digital signages not only unleashes market explosion but also created a competitive market environment. However, leading display companies decided to stick to their strongholds and increase market share. Some of them established decades-long supremacy in their territories. Most display vendors are from North America but the Asia Pacific remains the reservoir of economic growth for the upcoming years.

Jason Whiley, director of sales, Epson Middle East, says: “By simplifying robot programming, supporting complex manufacturing and providing packaged solutions, we aim to help remove any barriers to automation. We are likewise committed to working alongside our customers to deliver solutions that match their needs.”

Epson launched the WorkSense W-01, an autonomous dual-arm robot, ideal for the automation of complex tasks and small lot sizes. Described as “seeing, sensing, thinking, working”, this intelligent robot is designed for largely autonomous production in a number of new and different applications – and comes equipped with a large number of internal sensors from cameras to force sensors. Designed to meet the changing needs of businesses, the new range of robots meets increasing demand for affordable automation by SMEs and more precise and efficient technology. These announcements come at a time of growth and investment for Epson, whose 2025 vision is to be the global market leader in compact, precision robots.

Epson is already global market share leader in SCARA (horizontally articulated) robots, a title it has held for seven consecutive years, and is on track to increase its current market share to 40% by 2020. Since the global rollout of three new models this month, Epson is the only industrial robot producer in the world offering such a comprehensive price to performance ratio within its three product lines of SCARA robots and 6-axis robots – a truly scalable robotics offering.

The SCARA T6 robot, available for purchase on the Epson global webstore, is perfect for ‘pick and place’ applications – precise and efficient – handling payloads of up 6kg, double that of its predecessor, the T3. The VT6-L, available soon on the webstore, joins the line up delivering ‘just enough’ robot to automate repetitive tasks at an extremely competitive price. The N6 completes Epson’s robotics offering, providing revolutionary kinematics as a compact 6-axis industrial robot with a small footprint but incredible dexterity.

When it comes to screen size, market research shows that 50% of students find it difficult to read content displayed on a standard 70-inch screen . And when it comes to effective approaches to teaching, 80% of educational material is remembered by visual means and 90% through interactive lessons, compared to just 25% retained from one-way verbal lectures . Epson’s interactive projector portfolio realises the benefits of both large display size and interactive teaching solutions, allowing education establishments in the Middle East the opportunity to engage students.

On display at GESS will be Epson’s new bright full HD Projector EB-990U that offers multiple connectivity solutions maximising student’s potential. EB-710UI, which offers ultra-bright 100-inch Full HD images, and a set of collaboration and sharing tools to make creating engaging lessons easier will be one of the highlights.
Epson is showcasing the 4-in-1 multifunctional WorkForce Pro WF-5690 DWF printer that allows easy and efficient communications between the students and their teachers through its automatic double-sided printing, scanning, copying and faxing capability. Also included at the showcase is the DS-860 A4 sheet fed scanner that is ideal for quick and easy document workflow at schools and educational institutes thanks to its fast data processing feature.

Jason Whiley, director of sales, Epson Middle East said: “The UAE Vision 2021 National Agenda emphasizes the importance of creating a first-class education system, which is the backbone of a knowledge-based economy. At Epson, we align with this vision by providing smart education solutions that can transform the current education system and teaching methods, by providing more interactivity and collaboration in the classroom. We understand that today’s generation is very tech-savvy and they need intelligent classroom solutions.”

“Regardless of the size of the classroom and the quantity or quality of documents needed for their class work, we make sure that students and teachers are well connected, thus ensuring improved student life, high-quality education and administrative effectiveness. Participating in GESS, the leading educational exhibition in the Middle East, will help us to create more awareness of our products in the education sector,” he added.

Another highlight at the Epson stand is the EB-710Ui laser projector which addresses both display size and interactivity matters. This ultra-bright Full HD laser projector produces scalable images up to 100 inches. It allows interactive and shareable images with dual-pen and finger-touch interactivity feature that enable students to join in by directly annotating on the projected image.This is even true when you combine two displays together to create a huge, wide interactive collaboration surface that encourages participation. The EB- 710Ui’s laser-light technology is also a lesson in easy maintenance, with an integrated 16W speaker and microphone input so an additional sound system is not required.

The all new EB-990U projector, which will be on display at GESSS, is capable of producing a large and scalable screen size up to 300 inches and is bright even in high ambient lighting conditions allowing more efficient note taking and more interactive presentations. Its long-lasting lamp provides up to ten years’ worth of lessons before a replacement lamp is required or the air filter needs attention. Also, it is easy to set up and offers a range of connectivity solutions, so teachers and students can quickly access content from multiple devices and make a better use of their time at the classroom.

Time and cost savings are important to the education sector and Epson’s WorkForce Pro WF-5690 DWF, on showcase at GESS, is an efficient multifunction business printer that allows massive time and cost savings for educational institutes up to 50% lower spending compared to other printers. With print speeds of up to 34ppm in mono and 30ppm in colour, or 20ppm ISO print speed in both. Its high paper capacity of 580 sheets means less time is spent refilling, and it has a high monthly duty cycle of up to 35,000 pages. Additionally, the WF-5690DWF is environmental friendly, thanks to its no heat technology it uses up to 80 percent less power than competitive colour lasers thanks, in part, to its no heat technology. No ozone gases are emitted, and an improved quiet print mode and no fan noise during or after printing makes it ideal for the schools environment.

The DS-860 A4 scanner from Epson at GESS features a compact
footprint and high-speed scanning of up to 65ppm / 130ipm, even at 300dpi in colour. This, combined with hardware JPEG compression, makes large scan jobs faster to process. It allows for seamless document scanning which is essential for every educational institution to convert their paper files to electronic files in order to save them in the school’s database.

Epson will be present at stand O50, Sheikh Saeed Hall, DWTC for GESS 2018

“We are reaching out to Event and Rental companies in UAE as this is a peak season for them and Epson laser is an obvious choice for their installs,” says Indranil Bandyopadhyay, General Manager, Almoe Digital Solutions. “The idea is to ease out a big ticket spend and support the channel with this option of easy installments”.

The limited time offer also comes with a payment holiday option for 3 months for select partners. Epson laser series comes with 3LCD laser light source technology and a wide color gamut, and an ultra-high contrast ratio to produce brilliant, true-to-life color and incredibly deep blacks. It also comes with features of edge blending, corner corrections and zero offset, 17% lens shift with select lens options.

Almoe Digital Solutions is the Authorized Distributor for Epson in the UAE. Almoe offers end-to-end solutions to its customers with a team of professionals across pre-sales, sales, technical & service functions. With an experience of over 20 years, Almoe has a strong footprints in Education, Hospitality, Retail, Corporates & Govt. sectors in the UAE.

Also on display were Epson’s latest home cinema projectors -EH-TW5600, EH-TW5650 and EH-TW6100. They are ideal for film enthusiasts, gamers and sports fans who want to watch Full HD content on the big screen in the comfort of their own home. The projectors offer high definition 2D and 3D viewing and are easy to set up and use.

During the event, Epson presented the company’s latest channel strategies and the roadmap for the rest of the year. Partners also shared their valuable input and ideas for further cooperation.
Jason Whiley, director of sales, Epson Middle East, said: “At the event, we received positive feedback from our channel partners about our new versatile ITS printers which appeal to home, photo, home office and small office users. They are a game changer. They not only do away with the need for cartridges but are also more user friendly and take up less space.”

Underpinning the modified design of the printers is an enhanced ink filling system engineered to minimise the risk of spills and mess. At every stage it minimises spills with bottles that are easier to open, easier to pour and feature a mechanism that ensures the right tanks are filled with the corresponding colour.

Reducing printing costs by 90% on average , the EcoTank ITS range delivers an ultra-low cost per page, thanks to the included high yield inks and ultra-high-capacity ink tank. These cartridge-free printers also save time as the user can go much longer between refills.

First impressions count in business, and with the EB-1700 series you can deliver large-scale presentations to help you make your point, even when you’re out of the office. Its lightweight design and small form factor that will easily fit into a laptop bag make it ideal for elite sales staff and other frequent business travellers needing to present on the road. As you’d expect from the leading projector brand , this model has plenty of features that make it quick and easy to set up and present, including auto power on, auto source search, horizontal and vertical keystone correction, screen fit, and NFC to easily connect your device. Gesture controls make it easy to switch between slides with a swipe of your hand, and split screen means you can present from two sources simultaneously.

The EB-2265U is part of a range that delivers bigger, better-quality business presentations on corporate, SME and educational premises. With a screen size of up to 300 inches – and much more cost-effective than flat-panel displays – it also offers Full HD content that is better than 1080p. Set-up is hassle free thanks to focus help, Auto Power On, copy OSD settings, keystone correction and automatic screen fit, as well as a variety of connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, LAN, WiDi and HDBaseT. An increased lamp life of up to 10,000 hours reduces maintenance times and servicing.

Epson’s new and intuitive interactive projectors, the EB-1400 series, encourages collaboration and advanced connectivity in boardrooms to support the way people now work in the office. With Wi-Fi, remote working and even Skype calling on Full HD screens of up to 100 inches, this solution from the market leader makes it easier than ever to collaborate with colleagues, whether they’re in the same room or on the other side of the world.

Encourage collaboration, take advantage of advanced connectivity, and deliver results in the classroom with Epson’s latest intuitive ultra-short-throw interactive projector, the EB-600 series. With wireless connectivity, an enhanced moderator function and a screen size of up to 100 inches, it’s easy to encourage students with highly-detailed images presented in Full HD resolution.

Khalil El-Dalu, regional sales manager for Epson Middle East discusses how the manufacturer is consolidating in market on the basis of its patent innovations in projectors and printers

Do you reckon that 3LCD is a superior projector technology?

At GITEX, we showcased our technologies in 3LCD projectors and highlighted the difference in performance between DLP and 3LCD projectors. For instance, 3LCD delivers high-quality images with equally high white and colour light output while the colour light drops in DLP. For instance, when you say a projector is offering 3200 ANSI lumens, it is the same in colour and white with a 3LCD projector whereas in a DLP the colour will drop to around 1000 ANSI lumens or even less depending on the model. Which is why we have been the market leader since 2001. Consumers are often not aware of this and are quite surprised to know. We have shown them the flickering effect which can make eyes tired after a period. That is why 3LCD is leader in the education vertical. Even in the animation segment, 3LCD has been quite popular.

Discuss the laser projector that you have launched?

We showcased the laser projectors targeting the installation market at GITEX. With this, customer can fit and forget. This is ideal for rental companies. The hassle of changing lamps is removed and you can have 20,000 hours of work and 5 hrs standard warranty on this. You can place the projector in any position because of the laser light which you could not do with a lamp. It also offers 4K enhancement, meaning users will benefit from images with vivid colours, exceptional sharpness and detail.

We have a projector that offers 25000 ANSI lumens which is very bright. EB-L25000U is the world’s first 25,000lm 3LCD laser projector There is also a projector with 8000 ANSI lumens that comes with a special lens and produces an amazing projection in terms of size from a close distance. This is the EB-L1405U which includes an array of flexible features for minimal fuss and almost no maintenance. Corporates, higher education establishments, visitor attractions as well as rental and digital signage companies can now deliver powerful, superior-quality presentations.

Discuss the home cinema projector market opportunity and if they compete with the television segment?

Epson’s 3LCD technology ensures vivid colours and bright images are displayed even in a well-lit living room environment. For home cinema, consumers want to see depth of image and colour and so the contrast ratio matters.
We showcased the EH-TW6700 that boasts Full-HD resolution and is 3D-ready. Equipped with both horizontal and vertical lens shift, the EH-TW6700 can be placed far off-centre to a screen and still project a bright, accurate image just where it’s needed. Offering a smart cable-free installation, the EH-TW6700W adds Wireless HD transmission as well as access to the Epson iProjection app, letting the user control their projector from a smart device. Most of our home cinema projectors support true 3d- if you have the content then you can play 3D.
The prices are coming down in televisions but an 80 inch screen and higher will be on the expensive side. With a home cinema projector you could easily have a 100 inch display or even 150. It gives a cinema effect. It is not direct competition with televisions and addresses a different aspiration for users who want to relax and get a cinema experience at home.

How do you view the success in ink-tank printers and the savings in cost of printing you offer?

We have been seeing great success with the ITS (Ink Tank Solution) range, which delivers ultra-low-cost printing and eliminates the need for cartridges. We are growing month on month basis- ultra low-cost solutions- today we have 14 models. We have an A3 Multifunction as well. This is an unbeatable proposition. It is wide range- single function, mono, colour, 4-colour, 6-colour, multifunction etc.
Further, the WorkForce Pro range of business printers, offers a cost-effective and ecological alternative to laser printers, which consume up to 80% less power than comparable laser products. When used with our RIPS (Replaceable Ink Pack Solution) technology, WorkForce Pro RIPS printers can print up to 75,000 pages without the need for replacement ink, reducing product downtime and maintenance requirements.
Micropiezo is at the heart of the technology in all our inkjet printers- across the ITS series, the workforce, large format printers etc that sets the benchmark for high performance.
Today we have laser printer manufacturers worried because unlike the ITS models, in lasers users have to worry about the Fuser unit, transfer belt, drum and higher power consumption which is in the region of 400-500 watts vis-à-vis about 35 watts in ink tank models. Electricity bills will drop drastically for customers as they shift to Epson’s ink tank printers. We have gained a high market share in the value market. In Saudi, we now have 21% market share. Very recently, we have won a large order from Abu Dhabi Police to supply 1800 ITS printers and 1700 of mono ITS models. Our position to customers is that they shouldn’t worry about the initial cost of printers but rather think what each page of print costs. Then the ITS printer makes most sense.
We make profit for the day we sell because of the realistic prices. And we can make incremental profits with service agreements with customers whose print volumes are significant.