Making this buyer community understand the benefits of these devices can reap great benefits for printer resellers.

Printing is no more just another function in organizations. It has gradually emerged as a an effective medium of communication.

And color is the key to making this happen. A wide range of inkjet color printers at low prices has caught the attention of consumers in the home segment.

Currently, 60% of home printers and 8% of office printers are color. Majority of office applications are word processing or spreadsheets, which work well in mono. Though, color laser options for business has increased over the years, there are many barriers—high hardware and supplies costs, low performance and quality—when upgrading from mono-laser to color laser printers. 

While, this was true of color printing a few years back, it has made rapid advancements in terms of both, technology and cost. However, perceptions about color laser printing still remain the same.

PRICE: A BARRIER NO MORE

The high acquisition cost of color laser printers was the single largest factor that kept companies away from even considering to invest in these printers at the workplace. 

But now, there is wide range of these devices available in the market with different configurations to suit every business need - from entry-level laser printers to high-end LED color printers. Entry-level color laser printers are available for as little as under Rs 60,000. It offers sharp black text for mono prints as well as excellent photo resolution for color output. 

Most color laser printers today are fully networkable, support languages like postscript and PCL, have a variety of fonts and are compatible with major operating systems. Entry-level color laser printers can even be upgraded to multi-function printers that integrate a scanner, copier and a fax machine. 

The gap between the acquisition cost of a mono laser and a color laser printer is gradually reducing. The cost of acquiring an entry-level color laser printer would work out to a little more than upgrading mono laser printers. However, the benefits would be tremendous. The color laser printer offers similar features, performance and quality as a mid-range mono printer.

LOW OPERATING COSTS 
Corporates assume that even if hardware acquisition costs are affordable, the device’s supplies costs will be sky-high. This is because of the cost per page coverage myth. Usually, a page with 20% color coverage is cheaper if the printing was outsourced. 

The network printing management software makes color printing accessible to a number of users in a workplace, and at the same time helps cut down on costs. With certain added softwares, administrators can control the departments using color. This helps reduce wastage of consumables and paper.

Printer manufacturing companies have a variety of page-yield cartridges available for color laser printers. This helps reduce the cost per page of printing.

Another benefit to consider is the durability of color laser printed pages as compared to color inkjets. Chemically inert toners are fused onto the surface of the paper in the former, instead of being absorbed into it as in the case of inkjet printing. The durability of color laser printers reduces the need of having to take printouts over and over, this cutting on cost.

DO I NEED COLOR?
Most companies are happy by just printing in mono. But as business gets more competitive, there’s a growing realization that color is the key to breaking out of the ´communication clutter´. The image that the company presents is important. Color output technologies must be considered as an important element in their comprehensive strategy to make more of an impact on customers and prospects.

Consider these statistics on how viewers experience color:

• Presentations and printed pages are perceived as 60% better when they are in color 
• Visual search time is reduced by up to 80% by color coding 
• Ads in the yellow pages get 44% more response when red is used 
• Advertisements have 52% higher readership when color is added 
• Readers pay attention up to 82% longer when color is used 
• Presentations are 70% clearer when color highlights pertinent details 
• Color increases recall in educational material and training manuals by 60% 
• Brand identification increased 70% when color was added 

COLOR PRINTING FACTS

Color lasers support languages like postscript and PCL, have a variety of fonts and are compatible with major OS Entry-level color laser printers available for under Rs 60,000  Offer similar features, performance and quality as mid-range mono-printers A page with 20% color coverage is cheaper if printing is outsourced Color output is an important element in image building of an organization Partners should convince companies about tangible benefits of color systems

Currently, color usage in business communication stands at about 32% for color photos and images, 35% for graphs, charts and tables and 33% for text. Around 20% of color printed material is sales material, while 22% are presentations while the rest is used for reports, letters and desk top publishing.

Companies such as advertising agencies, media houses and marketing organizations stand to gain the most from color printing. In addition, benefits of color printing run horizontally across all departments in an organization - administration, sales, marketing, finance, human resources, R&D, distribution and others.

GOOD QUALITY, BETTER COSTS
Color laser and high-end printers with complex LED produce photo-quality output of 600 dpi and 2400 image quality resolution on a wide range of media—paper, glossy paper, transparencies and card stock. Color laser printers have easy loading and removal of cartridges. Features such as automatic color correction and duplex printing make color printing uncomplicated and convenient. 

Color printing isn’t just affordable, it also saves time, money and improves productivity. Organizations can print letter-heads, envelopes, labels, brochures, proposal, and many other documents that enhance an organizations business image.

Color can increase the company’s sales by printing brochures or flyers on demand, and timely generated ads as well as presentations.

WHERE PARTNERS COME IN
As benefits of color printing becomes more evident, its demand will increase. By 2005, color penetration in the office will increase to 12%. The color market is expected to continue its phenomenal growth because key constituencies value the power of color. 

As companies look to upgrade their mono laser printers, the falling hardware costs make upgrading to color printing a natural step. Resellers can take advantage of the color laser printer growth in its early stages. 

The channel can help companies understand how color printing will benefit them. They can guide the organizations choose the right solutions for their businesses. For this, partners need to go beyond basic product understanding and convince companies about tangible benefits of using color systems.

With the market expected to increase, the channel must tap the potential that this segment throws open.

Christophe Piganiol is Manager, Product Marketing (Color), APac, Lexmark

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