Laser and Inktank printers evolving manifold to attract consumers
Presently the printing industry has grown at a rate of 12% per annum and verticals like government, education, SMB, Enterprise etc has contributed in the growth. At this juncture, we have always witnessed a competition between Laser and Inktank / Inkjet printers. Both the types of printers have their own merits and demerits. With the evolution of the printing industry the demand of the customers have also changed and with that both the technologies has also evolved manifold.
To further analyse the technological worth of both the categories of printers we have garnered the views of some major printing companies on the same.
Inktank / Inkjet Printer Market
The adoption of Inktank printers are increasing every day. In FY 18 the market share of Inkjet printers has surpassed Laser printer. Inkjet acquires a market share of 53.4% while Laser printers occupies 46.5% of the market. The market for Inktank has broadened when realising the benefits Home and SOHO consumers also started adopting it.
“Inktank printer adoption has been growing rapidly. Today Inktank printers constitute 71% of the Inkjet printer market. (Incidentally Epson has a 47% market share of the overall Inkjet printer market as per IDC). As of FY18, the market share of Inkjet Printers has moved past that of Laser printers. Inkjet printers have a market share of 53.4% whereas laser printers now contribute 46.5% of the overall market. There is a definite shift in printing preferences taking place. Inktank printers were first adopted for commercial use by copy shops, jobbers and photo studios. Home and SOHO consumers followed when they realized the benefits of savings Inktank printers offered. Now Office and Business Consumers used to using mono Laser printers are increasingly realizing the benefit of Inktank printers over Laser printers. With print speed and print quality being comparable consumers prefer EcoTank Printers over Laser Printer as they are far more economical and convenient to use. Epson Monochrome EcoTank printers have a cost per page of just 12 paise. This is approximately 23 times lower when compared with the Laser printers using original toner usage which can cost up to Rs. 2.74 per print. Consumers are also waking up to the fact that Inktank printers are far more Eco-Friendly than laser printers as well. EcoTank printers consume up to 20 times lower energy consumption (12 watts for EcoTank versus 360 watts for a mono laser printer). Also Ecotank printers have a higher printing volume – 6,000 prints with one Ink Bottle Vs 2000 pages with most mono laser printers. Epson EcoTank printers also use Heat Free Micro Piezo Printer head technology whereas laser printers use a heating and fusing process for printing,” highlights Siva Kumar, Senior General Manager - IJP, Sales & Marketing, Epson.
Inkjet printers are the traditional choice of Home users and ideal for low volume printing. As Inkjet uses liquid ink so it lasts long and sustain weather change as compared to Laser.
“Inkjet printer uses ink, is suitable for low volume printing, and is the traditional choice of Home users. It is better at printing photos and colour documents. As named, Inkjet uses LIQUID ink as compared to Laser which use powder to last longer and sustain weather change. It is also convenient as it occupies less space, laser tends to be bulkier,” says Dilip Kanth, Managing Director, Kyocera Document Solutions India.
Laser Printer Market
Lexmark has grown its customer base across globe in the Laser printer segment. Verticals like Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, Banking, Insurance, Government and Education have adopted Laser as their mode of printing.
“Lexmark has since left the inkjet business from August 2012 and has since grown our business in the Laser printers. Since then we have more than 1 million devices over 170 countries covering industries like Manufacturing, Retail, Healthcare, Banking, Insurance, Government and Education. And we have been growing ever since,” points out Rajesh Onkar, Country Manager, Lexmark India.
Both Inktank and Laser are two different categories. Inktank printers can address the requirements of SOHO and Home customers.
“So, both Laser and Inktank are different unique and different product categories, but the way we look at it as different segments. So, Inkjet is for Home and SOHO customers and Laser is for SME. We have clearly differentiated value for each of the segment. Inkjet is obviously doing well and there is a lot of new technology adoption,” opines Leo Joseph, Sr. Director, Printing Systems and Solutions, HP Inc. India.
Recently HP Inc. has come up with a revolutionary product in the Laser category. The company has introduced Laser Tank technology. With this the company is targeting the SMB segment.
“At the same time, I think the reason why we are doing this launch and this product innovation is to address a big segment of SMB. Laser printer is a big market of 1.6 million and big challenge in the adoption in SMB was the cost and affordability. That is what we are addressing breaking down the cost by reducing,” explains Leo Joseph, Sr. Director, Printing Systems and Solutions, HP Inc. India.
Inktank V/S Laser Printer
Explaining the cost effectiveness of the Inktank printers, Siva Kumar says, “Inktank printers are far more cost effective as compared to laser printers. Epson Colour EcoTank printers offer a cost per print starting from 7 paise. Epson Monochrome EcoTank printers have a cost per page of just 12 paise. This is approximately 23 times lower when compared with the Laser printers using original toner usage which can cost up to Rs. 2.74 per print. If we were to consider the Total Cost of Ownership which is the Initial Hardware Cost + Cost Per Print + Total Number of Pages Printed Over the Life of the Printer and take 50,000 pages as the quantity printed over the life of the printer, then the Total Cost of ownership would be as follows:
Popular Mono Laser Printer using
Original Toner
Rs. 1,44,087
Popular Mono Laser Printer using Refill Toner
Rs. 25,391
Epson Monochrome EcoTank Printer
Rs. 17,225
Inktank printers are not only cost effective in terms of printing but it also consumes less power. It is also noticeable that Laser printers and Inkjet generate considerable amount of heat in the printing process. Further adding to it Siva Kumar adds, “Consumers across the spectrum are realizing the InkTank printers make better sense Laser printers when it comes to printing costs. Add to this the savings in terms of power consumption (approx. 12 watts vs approx. 360 watts) and the savings go up exponentially.
Another aspect that must be considered is the impact that Laser printers have on the environment. Apart from the power savings mentioned above, Laser printers generate significant heat in the printing process based on the technology that is used. The same applies for Inkjet printers using Thermal technology. Epsons EcoTank Printers however use Micro Piezo electric current to print. This technology uses no heat at all during the process. Laser printers also use bulky and inconvenient toner cartridges which are difficult to transport, store and to dispose. Since the page yield is less more toners are consumed leading to large amounts of e-waste. EcoTank printers on the other hand use refill ink bottles which are small and easy to transport, store and recyle. With a high print yield less refill bottles are also used.”
Talking about Lexmark printers Rajesh Onkar explains, “Lexmark printers no longer just print, but can simplify workflows, manage print usage, device performance and yet meet daily business tough requirements, e.g. fast print jobs, reliability, and quality prints.”
In the Laser category, with the introduction of Laser Tank technology HP Inc. is providing a higher print rate and also reduces the additional page cost. This new technology is providing 80% cost saving. Moreover, it also consumes less power. This new technology is targeted at SMBs of the country as this market vertical needs high quality printing but the cost used to be an obstacle for them.
“The Laser Tank printer is 80% cheaper in cost. So, earlier a printer produces 2000 pages but now we are giving 5000 pages in the box. Every additional page earlier it cost 50 paise and now we are offering at 29 paise. So that is the 80% cost saving that is what it can get bigger than that. It is in line with what we see the requirement from an SMB segment.
From a laser perspective, we have kept the power consumption to a minimum in the newly launched product. We not only looked at the affordability part but we have also considered the design, environment as we are using a lot of recycle plastic. InkTank has different advantages, but laser has always been known for the high quality printing which the businesses required. So for that kind of technology the cost of printing was a big barrier. So what we are doing to this is the first time of bringing the tank technology in the laser segment that has not happened ever. It is it is going to change the dynamics of the laser printing industry. The laser technology or laser printing is getting a massive innovation where the tank is getting into laser so at the price of Rs 2.5 per page is coming down by 80%. It's a massive cut in the cost of printing and that will disrupt the entire market. Earlier Laser printers had a toner, the concept gets over to replace it with another toner. Now we are saying the user do not have replaced the toner in the printer, it can be used again by just buying the plunger and keep refilling the toner. So that's a big technology change that we have done in the design and it is hassle free,” feels Leo Joseph.
Comparing both Injet and Laser printers, Dilip Kanth says,“Inkjet Printers are good for colour photos and high resolution documents, they have better blending of job with extra smoothness than Laser. The printers are low start-up cost and less expensive but Inkjet printer cartridges do not last long and are expensive comparatively. As the toners are water based so prints are susceptible to water damages and fading. Inkjet cartridges need frequent clearing and performs maintenance every time thus wasting lot of ink. Inkjet printers are slower than Laser and remains challenge for high volume printing. It is commonly utilised in SOHO businesses. It has a low print capacity (100 sheets) and output trays are nearly non-existent.
Whereas, Laser prints are faster than Inkjet, does not have impact for low PV but for high PV the difference is quite noticeable. Laser printers have perfection in sharpness, so mostly preferred during text printing and occasional graphics. It manages small fonts and fine lines much better than inkjets. Price vis-vis comparison are better for Lasers printers for text printing instead of graphics. Laser are slightly expensive but their running cost is quite low and less wasteful.”
Growth Verticals
For Epson, market verticals like SOHO, SME, SMB, Education etc. have pushed the growth trajectory. The company has witnessed increased sales in both colour and mono Ecotank printers.
“The major verticals that have driven growth for Epson InkTank printers are SOHO, SMEs, SMBs, Corporate and Education segment and for the desktop and small work group printers it is the Office segment. Our market share has increased with robust sales in both colour and mono Ecotank Printers,” claims Siva Kumar.
HP Inc. is witnessing demand in Home, SMB, Commercial and Enterprise and Government and it is major due to digitalization. But it is seeing a lot of adoption in the Enterprise segment.
“So, we are present in all of the market segments i.e, Home, SMB, Commercial and Enterprise and Government. All the segments contribute, its kind of linked to digitalization in SMB, Enterprise and Government sector. A lot of digital focuses which is helping us drive and there is an increase in the home printing from education perspective. I would say SMB definitely is flourishing and we are seeing a lot of adoption in Enterprise,” explains Leo Joseph.
Talking about the growth verticals Rajesh Onkar says, “InkTank has its own niche market as do Laser which focus more into transactional printing, where records need to be permanent and readable for tax purpose, legal purpose and archiving purpose. As you know electricity can be disrupted, water and high humidity can affect paints.”
To conclude
Epson is predicting a shift towards Inkjet technology as it is both cost effective and also from environmental perspective. “We predict a growing shift to Inkjet technology because it is superior to Laser technology both from a cost perspective as well as from an environmental impact perspective. The cost benefits as explained above are very clear. Apart from this, global warming and limited natural resources mean that humans are heading towards an enormous crisis. It is therefore essential for companies to take the lead in creating a circular economy and making society sustainable. Considering the increase in awareness about the environment among corporate - Energy conservation, Less heat generation (reducing Global warming) and responsibility in the disposal the e-waste we expect there will be an increasing shift to Inkjet technology driven by EcoTank Printers,” predicts Siva Kumar.
Predicting the future of the printing industry Rajesh Onkar highlights, “Printing is here to stay if there is a need for transaction printing, and no substitution can beat the price of a piece of paper. The best part of print is that you don’t need electricity to read it. Laser printout can be kept for a long time hence, businesses prefer to use print for important documents.
We live in a colour world, so any customers would love to print colour as it highlights company logos, help to make business proposal impressive and easy to read. In the future as printer technology improve further the cost will be driven down and more customer be taking up colour printer. That is true for some countries where customers buy more colour printer than a mono printer.”
Reiterating the same, Leo Joseph says, “The whole printing relevance will stay. If you look at Home segment from a learning perspective it is a proven fact that using printers in experience based learning really helped sell much better, in the SMB segment as the adoption increases and if we are able to address this cost which we are doing then clearly the whole adoption will increase the level of maturity in the in the enterprise and government space in all digitalization will be a big role in containers.”
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