Epson expects to grow its share of the inkjet-printer market to 35-40 per cent in its quest to be the No 1 player in Thailand in the next few years.
"I think the factor that will help us achieve the goal will be new demand from business users, especially small businesses. The company expects growth in inkjet sales at less than 10 per cent by the end of this year," Kato said.
Endo Koichi, chairman of Epson South & Southeast Asia, said that India, Indonesia and Thailand were the three key countries in the region because of their strong growth in gross domestic product and the potential of the education market.
"Epson is creating a new trend in business printing for the Asean market: printers that can offer our customers lower cost per page and better total cost of ownership," Koichi said.
The company also announced its Epson ME Office series, which consists of three new inkjet printers, ME Office 620F, ME Office 900WD and ME Office 960FWD, aimed at business offices and small and medium-sized enterprises. The three new printers are economical multifunction models with average duty cycles of 200-500 pages. They also offer such features as network connectivity, Wi-Fi printing, built-in fax, duplex printing and power-saving function. The prices range from Bt3,990 to Bt12,900.
Several months ago, the company announced two printer series: Epson ME, designed for small office/home office (SoHo) and home use, and Epson B-series, focusing on large enterprises.
Kato expects sales of the new series will be able to reach 30,000 units a month. The company will also offer after-sale services and campaigns to help boost revenue.
