Epson upbeat on Phl growth

MANILA, Philippines – Epson Philippines Corp. is upbeat that its sales would rise in five years starting this year as it rolls out more affordable products that can cater both to home and office users, officials said.

Speaking at the launch of the firm’s new L-series printers yesterday, Epson Philippines country manager Toshimitsu Tanaka said he expects to continue to see growth both in the firm’s printer and projector business in the country.

“In the last three years, we have seen double-digit growth for both projector and printer business and my new target in the Philippines is to achieve double sales turnover within five years,” he said.

Tanaka said the firm is optimistic that sales would rise as it starts to offer more affordable products, particularly printers, that would cater to home users and to those in offices.

In the past, he said Epson has focused on printers for home users.

Siew Jin Kiat, general manager for the inkjet and laser printer business unit of Epson Singapore, said in the same event the introduction of the new L-series printers such as the L110, L210, L300, L350 and L355 in the Philippines is expected to help drive higher sales.

“The goal of launching new printers is to give customers amazing savings,” he said noting that consumers are always concerned about costs.

The Epson L110 which is priced at P5,795 and L210 which costs a little over P7,000 are basic next generation ink tank system printers designed for home and small office users which have a print speed of six images per minute (IPM), twice as fast as the L100 and L200 it replace.

The Epson L300, L350 and L355 (with Wi-Fi capability), meanwhile are the advanced next generation ink tank system printer suitable for small and medium business users, offering a nine IPM print speed.

The Epson L300 costs P7,495 while the L350 has a P9,295 price tag.

The price for the L355 meanwhile, has yet to be announced.

All models of the Epson L-series also offer customers high-capacity ink-bottles priced at P295 each which allow them to print at high volume and low cost.

Siew said that while the L-series are the lowest priced printers in the market, the firm made sure that the products are still of good quality.

As for the projector business, Tanaka said the firm wants to continue to offer products that meet the requirements of users for sustained sales.