Brother sees opportunity in crisis

Amid a shrinking technology spending in the market, a global printer manufacturer sees the opportunity to grow as an alternative brand as most companies now go for affordable brands to maximize their resources.

Brother International Philippines Corporation recently introduced a new line of their A3 color inkjet multifunction centers (MFC) to Cebu banking on the premise of providing a more affordable alternative solution to a market with a shrinking technology spending.

Brother International Philippines Corp.’s director and country general manager Toshiaki Isayama said that as most companies start to maximize their limited resources, the preference now shifts to buying affordable units that can provide them more value for their money.

He said that Brother gives an alternative option, which is more affordable at an equally high standard of quality to that of the leading brands.

“We have the same quality with the leading brands in the market which has now become too expensive considering that there is an ongoing financial crisis. Since the market aims to maximize their limited resources, they are now shifting and looking for better deals and products and services that can give them equal value for their money so the crisis is indeed a good opportunity for us,” said Isayama.

Assistant general manager Glenn P. Hocson added that, “we look at the crisis in a different point of view. The crisis is now pushing all companies to reduce cost so one way for them to go is through patronizing alternative brands which can provide them more affordable products and fortunately for Brother, we are an alternative brand.”

He said that their new MFC line aims to provide flexible solutions targeted to those who use A3 printing so that they can buy more affordable units instead of buying expensive A3 printing machines which costs more than triple their price range.

“The demand for A3 printing and scanning is now very high because a lot of professionals use it. Our new line is a good buy because it has multiple functions as you can scan, fix, print and copy for just the price of a single function printer,” added Isayama.

He said that based on the IDC report, Brother International was able to snag the number one market share in the laser MFC segment of the printing business last year and currently it is the number one challenger for the inkjet MFC category in the market.

“Brother International has been recognized as one of the key players in the IT industry for last year and this year we hope to continue providing new solutions, technologies and innovations to ensure our commitment to our clientele,” he said.

Hocson, on the other hand, explained that Brother’s 2008 fiscal year will end this March but at present, they have already surpassed their sales result for the 2007 fiscal year, which shows the rapid growth of Brother in the country.

He said that the main reason for this growth can be attributed to their successful penetration of the corporate market.

Brother started expanding in the Philippines last 2000 and currently it already serves 60 companies out of the 100 top companies in the Philippines.

Here in Cebu, Brother started last 2005 and now they have been able to increase its market presence and visibility by establishing presence in IT retail stores in the province.

Brother International is one of the leading brands that develops and manufactures innovative print technology and software for homes, small and medium businesses and large-scaled enterprise. — Rhia de Pablo