The printer market is a fiercely competitive segment of the IT hardware market. It is only through tenacity and producing technology that clearly outpaces your rivals at an attractive price that a company can make a difference and grow its market share.
The latest IDC South Africa and BMI-TechKnowledge Printer Annual and Quarterly reports on the state of the colour laser printer market have shown that Oki, the technology leader in colour laser printers, has delivered remarkable growth in both Europe and South Africa.
Locally BMI-T figures for the 2002 laser printer market show Oki with only a 3.9% market share, but the figures for the first quarter of 2003 - since the launch of Oki`s new C5000 colour laser - tell a vastly different story.
"In Q1 2003, Oki dramatically increased its market share in the colour laser market in South Africa," explains Loretta Pein, BMI-T senior analyst, personal computing. "Our figures show Oki growing to command 8% of the overall market, and the company has risen to second place with 12.8% of the market for lasers producing 10 pages per minute or more."
Oki`s C5000 Series was developed in response to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses. These enterprises have never been offered colour at this performance level, speed and affordable price. And potential buyers take note: Oki is aggressively revising pricing to further solidify the C5000`s market leadership.
"Our market share is growing month-on-month. Printacom notched up an astounding 45% growth in Oki colour printer sales in the first quarter of 2003 compared to January - December 2002, with no signs of a slowdown," says Neil Rom, MD of Printacom, sole Oki importer in South Africa.
"Consequently, we have also decided to revise our pricing structure to better leverage our strength in the industry and provide yet more tempting reasons to adopt an Oki."
IDC`s Western European statistics show Oki has also shot its way up the rankings of the professional colour printer market, increasing its market share and moving from sixth position to fourth in the space of one year. "Overall colour business now represents 25% of Oki Europe`s quarterly European revenue, a 78% increase in the number of units sold over the past year," Rom adds.
"Oki is enjoying a fantastic year in the professional colour printer market. Our focus on products that are relevant to businesses is paying off. In a challenging environment, Printacom is offering products that are taking the market by storm."
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As a division of the MB Technologies Group, Printacom is the sole importer of the Oki range of printers to the South African reseller channel.
With Oki ranked among the top three printer brands worldwide, Printacom focuses on offering high-end internationally recognised business printing solutions to corporate companies. It is this performance and reliability that attracts 60% of the market share in the high-end dot matrix market in South Africa.
Oki has achieved many local channel accolades over the past months, these include: - Channel Champion 2002, Okipage 14ex Editors Choice award and the Lab`s Choice award for colour.
More information about Printacom is available at: http://www.printacom.co.za.
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