Bidvest group company, Minolta South Africa, is leading the medium to high end print volume digital copier market in Segment 2 (20 - 39 copies per minute (cpm)), Segment 3 (40 - 59 cpm) and Segment 4 (60 - 89 cpm), according to the results of the recent InfoSource Spring 2005 survey.
Copier division product manager Paul Symonds says Minolta SA leads Segment 2 with 18.7% share of the market, Segment 3 with 22.6% and Segment 4 with 38.4%. "A year ago Minolta SA led in Segments 3 and 4 and was placed third in Segment 2. We made a decision to focus on growing Segment 2 and this year we are seeing the results of this concerted effort.
Minolta SA`s lead in Segment 3 is largely attributed to the company`s competitiveness in the government market, as well as the clinching of several outsourcing deals. "Our unmatched position in Segment 4 (its nearest competitor is at 11%) can be attributed to the success of machines like the Konica Minolta DiALTA Di7210 and Di850, which are competitively priced, large volume printing machines with excellent image quality," says Symonds.
He says Minolta SA is likely to maintain its lead in the high volume sectors and make substantial in-roads into Segment 5 (90+ cpm), especially since introducing its first device aimed at the production print market, the bizhub PRO 1050.
"In addition to its 105 ppm print speed, the bizhub PRO 1050 offers a warm-up time of less than six minutes and a first copy out time of less than three seconds. It is a robust machine built to cope with heavy-duty production environments. It has a 9,000-sheet capacity and handles an average monthly volume of 5 to 700,000 with a maximum of 1,5 million A4 sheets a month," says Symonds.
Symonds says Minolta expects to grow considerably in the entry level sector, especially Segment 1, where it is currently placed third. "We have introduced two new machines, the bizhub 210/162 with respective copying speeds of 21 and 16 cpm, which we believe will give our competitors a run for their money," he says.
Symonds says success in the various segments can also be attributed to the merging of Konica and Minolta, which has meant better research and development and more sophisticated products. "But our success is not only based on product quality. It`s also about service and back-up, with particular emphasis on our Minolta Integrated Systems Information Exchange (MiSix) division, which is made up of specialist engineers who form teams to assess and address the wide range of client requirements relating to document solutions," he says.
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