Results of the recent BMI-TechKnowledge SA Annual Desktop Printer Report revealed that while the South African printer market displayed a 12.2% decline in overall growth, Minolta-QMS sales are up with a 21.4% growth in laser printer sales for 2001.
According to BMI market analyst, Loretta Pein, the printer market`s overall decline in growth can be attributed to factors such as the local economic slowdown and a decline in business and consumer confidence. "This is further exacerbated by fluctuating and deteriorating exchange rates as well as a global economic downturn," she says.
Minolta-QMS laser printer division product manager, Marc Pillay, says that Minolta-QMS`s increased sales can be attributed to the availability of product, competitive pricing, effective distribution partnerships and the fact that Minolta-QMS is the only vendor on the market to offer an entry-level colour laser printer.
"Minolta-QMS uses a variety of shipping methods to land product at a reduced rate which means we can offer our product at a competitive price. In addition, our distribution partners, Mustek and Pinnacle, have been highly effective in the reseller market," says Pillay.
While the BMI results indicate that there has been a slower than anticipated adoption of colour in the office environment, Minolta-QMS has made colour laser printers more affordable to the man in the street with its entry-level Magicolor 2200 Desk Laser printer.
"We believe that South Africans buy for three reasons - cost, quality and service," says Pillay. "The Magicolor 2200DL encapsulates all these elements and has been a major contributing factor to an increase in sales."
Pein says laser printers will continue to offer cost of ownership and performance benefits over inkjet printers and that monochrome laser printers will continue to dominate the office environment. "BMI foresees that shipments in the 13 - 20ppm and 21 - 29ppm segments will increase as a result of the continued introduction of new product by vendors," she says.
Pillay is in agreement with this and believes the introduction of cutting-edge new products such as the Magicolor 3100N and the MINOLTA-QMS 9100 Print System will boost MINOLTA-QMS`s overall laser printer sales even further.
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