Johannesburg, 28 Jul 2004
Japanese company, Konica Minolta, have stated in their long term business plan their intention to grow their worldwide market share in the colour laser printer market. Itec SA has similar intentions for the Southern African market. They aim to achieve this growth through a combination of a reliable, innovative product range, which provides cost effective color output to users, coupled with a strong focus on customer service. The future is bright for the colour laser printer market, with product enhancements including improved print quality, speed and output capabilities, connectivity, ability to integrate with additional devices (over and above the standard computer networks and PC`s), and improved reliability, as well as cost benefits.
The quality of print produced on the Konica Minolta colour laser printers is achieved largely through the developments in the optical systems used in the printers and the use of new advanced polymerized toner. Unlike traditional colour lasers there is no longer a need for silicone oil in a machine to ensure the toner does not damage parts. The new toner is finer and fuses onto the paper at a lower temperature, resulting in reduced power consumption. The advanced toner also has better fusing characteristics, which allows it to adhere more successfully to paper and it also reduces deterioration on the working parts of the printer, with which it comes into contact.
Itec SA is currently positioned to supply networked colour laser printers with the print speed of a monochrome laser printer, but at the price of a black and white (B&W) network laser printer. This has resulted in the midrange B&W laser printer sales being replaced with the colour laser option. Future plans for 2004 include introducing high speed colour laser printers, which print in colour but at the same speed as a B&W networked printer and at prices that the SME business can afford without compromising print quality. With speeds of 16, 20 and 25 colour pages per minute a single colour laser printer can be successfully shared amongst a workgroup of five to 20 people, lessening the need for individual inkjet printers and significantly reduce printing costs.
With USB 2.0 (fast USB) and Ethernet as standard interfaces on the latest products, one can connect into virtually any computer system, (shared between a whole department or company). Machines with a PCMCIA card will become standard to take a wireless network card. These high levels of connectivity allow for the ability to connect to additional devices such as direct links to digital cameras, cell phones, PDAs, or any other electronic device which could produce a printable page. They also provide the opportunity to start printing from more platforms like UNIX, LINUX and MAC, on a low cost colour laser printer. All processing is now done via PC, and the processed image is then transmitted to the printer, similar processing technology has been used in inkjets over the years.
The Konica Minolta colour laser brand `magicolor`(launched in 1994) was the first desktop colour laser printer in the world. Konica Minolta is one of the few manufacturers to produce all the parts that go into a laser printer, including the print engine, controller board, software drivers and consumables, to ensure compatibility is always constant.
Itec SA is focused on providing only the very best and latest in technology, as well as exceptional service. According to Jacques Duyver, CEO Itec SA, "Technology is a commodity, it`s the people that count. providing a balance between quality products backed up by quality service, and the `go the extra mile` mindset, is what has made Itec SA the success it is today".
The corner stone of Itec`s successful customer relationships is the ability to utilise their market knowledge to predict future trends and assess customers needs in order to help customers plan ahead and ensure that they make sound investments.
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