In digitalization era, the humble printer thrives

Epson Philippines Corp. is bullish on the prospects of the printer market in the country despite the increasing adoption for paperless transactions in the age of accelerated digitalization, projecting a 10-percent growth in sales this year.

Masako Kusama, country president and director of the consumer electronics giant, told the Inquirer that its corporate clients still have printing needs, enough to to buoy revenues.

Epson Southeast Asia regional managing director Siew Jin Kiat said that among its clients were big retail and fast food companies that need equipment for printing customer receipts. Epson holds a 40-percent market share in the printer category in the Philippines.

The manufacturer is also seeing growth with help from industrial and commercial clients, which print advertising materials including tarpaulins. Siew also cited customers from the textile industry.

The demand for Epson products, including projectors, had gone down following the imposition of COVID-19 restrictions that shut down schools.

Sales of its projectors fell by 70 percent to 80 percent during the pandemic, Siew recalled.

Kusama said they were able to recover after achieving an overall 10-percent growth last year with the reopening of the economy.

Epson has a 60-percent market share in the projector segment.

The company expressed optimism it would be able to better source manufacturing inputs this year. The supply chain was a major concern in the past years due to the global shortage of semiconductors, adversely affecting manufacturing.

On Wednesday, the company launched a new printer line backed by heat-free technology, an eco-friendly feature that reduces carbon emission by 85 percent and energy consumption.

“Epson’s heat-free technology is our response to urgent environmental issues as we contribute to the reduction of carbon dioxide emission,” Seiko Epson Corp. director Koichi Kubota said.

It will be available by the first quarter of 2023.

“A new era of printing has indeed arrived, and we are proud to finally have come to this moment and become the leader of sustainable printing solutions in the market,” Siew said.

Epson entered the Philippine market in 1998.