Slight growth in 2009, despite economic woes

Digital printers replace analog; single-function gives way to multi-function

Thailand's market for printers is expected to grow to 1.39 million units this year with an overall value of Bt4 billion, after year-on-year growth in volume and value of 2.9 and 2.5 per cent respectively.

In 2008, a total of 1.35 million printers were sold, with a value of Bt3.9 billion.

The figures were released by the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) following surveys for its Thailand ICT Market 2008 and Outlook 2009 reports.

Of the printers sold this year, 61,000 units will be impact printers valued at Bt610 million, 1,060,000 units will be inkjet printers with a value of Bt2 billion and 274,000 units will be laser printers with value of about Bt1.3 billion.

Brother Commercial (Thailand)'s sales and marketing manager Teerawut Supapanpinyo said the printer market would grown only slightly this year because of economic and political factors. However, Brother has been able to distribute more printers to the market this year and expects growth of about 12 to 15 per cent.

Moreover, the company is focusing its business segments on mid-range and high-end customers this year because there is room in the market to do so. It is also expanding its dealer network from 150 to 250 dealers around the country.

"We have the opportunity to expand our business base to include corporate and government customers, even though the firm is strong in the small- and medium-sized enterprise market, by delivering multifunction printers. We do not intend to join a price war with our competitors, but our products have qualities of productivity, new technology and functions," Teerawut said.

He said Brother would also offer value-added services such as warranties, and would set up service centres covering all provinces by the end of this year. It currently has 142 service centres covering 68 provinces.

The general manager of Hewlett-Packard (Thailand)'s Imaging and Printing Group and Consumer Segment, Somchai Soongswang, said his company was campaigning to replace analog printers with digital printers this year. It will also provide the HP Snapfish service, a new online photo-printing experience for Thai customers, in the near future. The firm also offers HP Smart Web printing solutions so that customers may print documents via the Web.

He said technology and product trends were towards replacement of single-function printers with all-in-one or multi-function printers. Hewlett-Packard will also be offering a managed print service to help enterprise customers to streamline management, minimise costs, maximise results and contribute to environmental sustainability goals. With HP's complete portfolio of hardware, supplies, software and services, customers can save about 5 to 8 per cent in imaging and printing costs.

Somchai said his company was expecting growth of more than 20 per cent this year. It is planning to expand its customer base and establish partnerships in upcountry areas to deliver directly to end-users. It is also focusing on small- and medium-sized businesses and the enterprise market.

The country manager for Fuji Xerox Printers (Thailand), Rangsan Naratchariyangkul, said his company was focused on distributing a full line of products, including multi-function printers, to all segments of the market. It has also set up a Fuji Printers Customer-Care Centre for after-sales service, and plans to increase second-tier sales channels, or dealers, to distribute its products and to add value for customers.

He said Fuji-Xerox also had a strategy to boost and encourage small- and medium-sized enterprises and the corporate market generally. It also plans to educate the market.

"In the SME and retail markets, we will encourage customers to understand issues like returns on investment and total cost of ownership so that customers feel confident about purchasing printers with high productivity, performance and quality of service," Rangsan said.