Printers have shifted from serving a purely utilitarian function in the work place to helping businesses boost their productivity and even manage their content.
This is according to Todd Hamblin, VP and GM, global channel sales and marketing, for Lexmark Imaging Solutions and Services.
In an interview with ITWeb last week, Hamblin was upbeat about the market trends in the printing and imaging industry. He attributed the shift towards increased productivity to the move away from single-function printers to multi-function printers.
Hamblin said this migration has been going on for a number of years, but as it continues, single-function printers are becoming a rarity in the office. Multi-function devices have a number of advantages - they take up less space, save money, and, because they can be programmed, save time.
These printers can also be programmed to perform a number of tasks, what Hamblin refers to as “solutions”.
Based on workflow, multi-function printers can be programmed to perform routine tasks such as making a copy, e-mailing it to a mailing list, and saving it in a file.
According to Hamblin, this can save a business 30% to 50% of its running costs. “Ultimately, it allows them to print less and print just what they need for their business.”
Other trends Hamblin mentioned include the use of more colour copying in the office and a shift away from A3 to printers that only make use of A4 paper.
He said 98% of pages printed in an office are printed on A4, adding that there is also a shift towards a more distributive printing environment, instead of people having single devices on their desks.
Hamblin noted that these trends are also good for green initiatives, as they save energy and paper.
While Hamblin described SA as having a robust market, he said that like other emerging markets, it lags behind with regards to industry trends in printing and imaging.
He pointed out that although all businesses are concerned about the cost of printing, smaller companies in emerging markets are often more cash-strapped, as they lack the kinds of loans their counterparts in mature markets have access to.
At the same time, Hamblin added, emerging economies are experiencing faster growth in the printing and imaging industry.
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