Standalone inkjet printers shall perish...
The key phrase in the printer market is not 'printing' anymore. The catchphrase is 'imaging', as this is what consumers are seeking from the device. With imaging gaining momentum, printer manufacturers are gearing their offerings around a consumer's printing habits. The market has witnessed a spate of MFD and laser printer launches in the past few months from leading vendors.

MFDs and lasers are versatile...
The printer segment is estimated to be about 1.1 million units, with standalone inkjet comprising 50%, DMP about 30%, lasers and MFDs having 10% each. Although the major market share in the printer segment lies with standalone inkjet printers, I firmly believe that laser and MFD sales will pick up, as customers will be wooed by factors like price, value, ease of use, quality of output, usage of graphics. The versatility of MFDs and lasers is expected to affect the standalone inkjet printers.

MFD scores over inkjet printers...
The emergence of MFDs is revolutionizing the entire work culture in offices by offering space optimization as an advantage. MFDs deliver printing, faxing, scanning and copying, in a single device and have not only resulted in tremendous cost savings but also better manageability, simplicity and improved efficiency. Having one machine instead of four or five different ones, helps in saving a lot of space and also eases its management issues. MFDs are expected to be dominant in the office segment on account of its multi-tasking activity available in a single machine.

Laser printers are better...
Laser printers are gaining in momentum on account of the relative advantages of factors like high quality printing, space saving, initial cost and running cost. Demand for lasers printers has increased in enterprises, on account of its low total cost of ownership (TCO) and operational costs. Vendors are pitching TCO and economical usage as major features against the high cost of ownership attached to standalone inkjet printers. Adoption of lasers as a mainstream printing technology globally and improvements on the output front have ensured remarkable drop in price-performance ratio. This has further fueled the market acceptance of lasers.

Newer models launched..
In conclusion, one can see that the marketplace is developing interesting niches with vendors offering various models at price points segmented to suit the specific needs SOHO, SMB and the institutional customers. A stand-alone inkjet printer can be more expensive than a laser or MFD as the TCO calculations render inkjets costlier.

Standalone inkjet printers are here to stay...
There is no doubt that the MFD market is growing in the country. In fact, it has grown much faster than the expected levels in the international markets, where it was launched few years before it was launched in India. Having said this, one must remember that standalone inkjets still hold a major share in the international market. The ratio is about 60:40 for standalone inkjets and MFDs.

Inkjets will be still cheaper...
It is true that the acceptance of MFDs has happened much faster than standalone inkjets, but there will surely be a price differential between the two which will give a place for both in a huge market like India. With entry-level inkjets available for less than Rs 3,000 in India and MFDs for less than Rs 5,500, small business and families will continue to choose the standalone injket printers over MFDs. The latter products are for people who have evolved over a period of time after using entry-level inkjet printers.

Replacement will not be all-pervasive...
Certain single function devices cannot be replaced by MFDs. For instance, a photo printer using six-color technology cannot be a substituted with a MFD. Photo printers give high-quality color prints and are typically used by photo labs. Some standalone inkjet printers can print photos directly from CDs or memory cards, which MFDs currently available in the market can't. Also, customers in the smaller towns will have a preference for entry-level inkjets because of the price differential between the two. Customers already having a scanner may not want a MFD.

MFDs will affect only some segment...
The growth of MFDs will affect a certain class of general-purpose inkjet customers, but will not affect the entry-level customers, because of the pricing and the adoption advantage. Currently about 80% of inkjets are for entry-level category. Out of the five-lakh inkjet printers sold per annum, some 50,000 units fall under the general-purpose category priced at around Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000. But the customer will have to evaluate their needs and decide which one to go for. For printer companies, it is additional business whether be it entry-level or MFD. So MFDs replacing inkjets are a kind of positive cannibalization for the vendors. It is basically and win-win situation for both customers and vendors.

Customers to decide...
MFDs made an entry in international market much before India, but still inkjet standalones hold around 60% market share. In India, MFDs have around 10% market share, which will definitely grow to match the international ratio. However, at least for the next five years, standalone machines will continue to do well in India. Now customers have to decide by evaluating the price gap.

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