This backs up Epson’s stance that the market is heading towards a historic tipping point, and Epson is strengthening its position to support channel partners in light of new growth opportunities.
Despite some analyst speculation that industry-wide consolidation could occur in the coming years, the expectation remains that a high-value and profitable print market will continue to grow. Furthermore, some analysts are forecasting a print resurgence. Epson believes that inkjet will reach market dominance due to its flexibility and environmental, cost and performance benefits that other technologies on the market cannot match. Epson expects further inkjet growth for the remainder of 2017 and in coming years.
Epson’s research, conducted online and gathering insights from more than 5,000 individuals across six European countries during the month of September 2017, tested end-users’ understanding of the benefits of inkjet versus laser.
The majority of respondents (58%) falsely thought that laser produces less CO2 and 54% mistakenly believed it produces less waste than inkjet. Furthermore, 67% of respondents incorrectly guessed that laser results in higher productivity due to less time spent on maintenance and downtime. On the positive side, 62% of respondents knew that inkjet consumes less energy, and 55% agreed that inkjet is faster to print. Epson, as a company with a long heritage in printing innovation, wants to improve the understanding of how inkjet outperforms, will continue to evolve even further, and aims to work with market channels to ensure that the distribution channel can also access the growth opportunities available from inkjet.
Epson’s message about inkjet as the most responsible choice for the future of business printing is especially important for large corporations who will see an increasing need to comply with non-financial reporting on an annual basis. The EU’s goal of addressing climate change with a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions, and a 20% improvement in energy efficiency by 2020 will require the business community particularly to demonstrate that they are meeting the needs of global benchmarks.
Claire Robinson from Epson Europe says: “Inkjet is gaining ground in the printing market. According to market analyst firm IDC, inkjet is expected to grow 10.2% (CAGR) in Western Europe until 2020. But there is still a knowledge gap, which is why we decided to take the choice to the market – to demonstrate the realities of inkjet versus laser and show the impact of each individual’s choice when selecting a printing technology.”
Claire Robinson adds: “Epson has continued to push inkjet printing to new heights across its business inkjet range. Our WorkForce Pro series can achieve up to 99% less waste, 96% less energy consumption, and 98% reduced maintenance and intervention time. Furthermore, the launch of Epson’s WorkForce Enterprise brings a new high-speed inkjet printer range on to the market – an area anticipated to yield large returns according to IDC.”