"Epson has consistently achieved double digit growth"

How do you analyze Indian printer market?

I see huge potentials in Indian printer market. It is expected to grow to 3.4 million units in FY 2014. During the previous year around 3.1 million units were sold out. This year the projection is around 4 million units. The sale of single function printers have declined in recent years with customers giving preference to multi function printers. What is interesting thing is Inkjet printers are making strong inroads into laser printer market by offering greater value to SOHO and SMB segment.

How idea of introducing InkTank printers in Indian market flourished?

 Under our world wide corporate mission we modified our focus and completely changed our perspective. We tried to understand actual needs and expectations of Indian customers. During our market research we got lot of interesting insights. We found that Indian customers are not always price conscious and willing to pay for good brands. They want high quality printers with good speed. So, we came with a solution i. e. InkTank printers based on our unique cost effective Micro Piezo technology. We launched InkTank printers in 2011 and it was immediately accepted by SOHO and commercial customers. The shift from laser segment has already begun with corporate, enterprises and home rapidly moving towards InkTank printers.

Since printer market is hotly contested market in India with wide range of mono and multi function Laser printers, why customers should buy Epson’s printers?

Epson’s InkTank printers are better option to laser printers. They offer high quality printing experience to customers. Based on Micro Piezo technology, InkTank printers are eco friendly and economical. InkTank printers are easily refillable. They give high volume printing of 4,000 pages from a single ink bottle.  The cost is just 12 paise per page for B&W prints and 25 paise per page for color prints. InkTank printers are energy efficient unlike lasers. This revolutionary product gives Indian customers “freedom of printing”.

You say that Epson’s printers are benefiting customers but how they are benefiting the company in terms of revenue?

Epson has consistently achieved doubled digit growth though overall market growth in India remained single digit. Two years back our market share was 25 per cent and now it is 44 per cent. We achieved sales turnover of 8,840 million rupees in fiscal 2013. Epson has been the number one brand in dot matrix printers. Recently we became the number one inkjet printer brand in India. Year 2014 is an important year for Epson since it is our 25^th year of existence in India. This year our aim is to surpass turnover of 10,000 million.

What are your expectations from Indian customers?

 We have invested in customers true needs. Our ultimate aim is to give customers freedom of printing without worrying about cost. We expect Indian customers to explore creativity without bothering price and cost. We want them to do more and more printing.

What are the potentials in Indian printer market in future?

The overall printer market is expected to grow from Rs 22,880 Million in 2013 to Rs. 33,000 Million in 2017. Robust growth is expected across inkjet and laser printer categories. Corporate is now selecting the best and most cost effective solutions in printing. That simply means there will no longer insistence on specific technology like laser, inkjets or dot-matrix.

What are your future business plans?

 Our aim is to leverage our unique technologies in printing, projection and sensing to create products and solutions that exceed the vision of our customers in core markets. We aim to capture 15 per cent to 20 per cent of office laser printer market by 2017. We will be focusing on providing the right customer value by not just meeting their needs but exceeding them. Currently we have an extensive line-up of Epson InkTank printers to meet printing needs for the home and office. Going forward we will expand our lineup of InkTank printers for India. Ultimately we want everything to be printed by Epson.