Epson sees RP sales hitting P1B this year

Leading computer printer maker Epson Corp. projects sales for its Philippine subsidiary to hit the P1-billion mark this year, driven by its continued domination of the dot matrix printer market as well as huge inroads made in the highly competitive inkjet printers sector.

Epson Phils. Corp. (EPC) president Hiroaki Ito said yesterday that from January to May this year, their inkjet printer sales have grown by 180 percent. The first week of May this year saw total printer sales growing by 200 percent compared to the same period last year.

Ito expects Epson inkjet printer sales this year to grow by 50 percent and that of dot matrix printers, by 20 percent. Total Philippine inkjet printer sales in 2002 is expected to grow by a mere 10 to 15 percent.

"Our inkjet printers performed better (increasing sales by 50 percent last year compared to 2000) than the total market which only grew by 10 to 15 percent because we were able to grab market share. In the case of the dot matrix printer business, our growth will depend on how much the market will expand since we practically own the market," he said.

Based on research group International Data Corp. (IDC) reports for the fourth quarter of 2001, Epson practically owns the dot matrix market with a 99-percent market share. Around 70 percent of the company’s dot matrix printer sales goes to government.

In the fiercely competitive arena of inkjet printers, Epson has overtaken leading inkjet vendor Hewlett Packard, with a commanding 40.7-percent market share for inkjets for the Oct-Dec. 2001 period.

Around 80 percent of Epson’s inkjet printer sales goes to the home market, and 20 percent, to the corporate sector.

It noted that while sales of dot matrix printers went down because of reduced government spending, total Epson sales last year managed to grow by five percent due to the impressive performance of their inkjet printers in the market.

For the last two years, the total Philippine market for dot matrix printers has considerably gone down. In fact, last year, the total market shrank by 30 percent compared to the previous year.

EPC, the local representative of Seiko Epson Corp. of Japan, is into sales, marketing, and servicing of digital imaging products such as printers, scanners, and liquid crystal projectors.

EPC yesterday reported local consolidated sales revenues of P921 million for fiscal year 2001, five percent higher than the previous year. This makes the Philippine office second among six regional offices in the Asia-Pacific region under the Singapore umbrella in terms of sales.

Entry-level inkjet printer Epson C20sx is the company’s best-selling inkjet, accounting for roughly 65 percent of the company’s total sales, and 26 percent of the total inkjet market.

According to EPC sales and marketing manager Jino Alvarez, the movement of the inkjet line-up is dictated by the sales of the C20sx because of the bigger market it caters to. "This is truly an exciting product because we have successfully infused of the higher end models into an affordable printer," he said.

On a per product basis, consumables such as inks, ribbons, and papers account for 35 percent of total revenue while the other 65 percent is divided among printers, scanners, digital cameras, and LCD projectors.

The scanner category, basically an infant product for Epson, posted the biggest growth rate last year. Epson Perfection 1250 led this category in terms of sales and market acceptance with its combination of speed and quality. "Aside from the awards our scanners have been receiving, we have the support of the graphic and photography industry that helped boost our revenues," Alvarez said.

Alvarez added that they were satisfied with the numbers last year because despite the socio-political and economic turmoil, the company was able to bring in impressive revenue.

Epson executives attribute their positive sales revenue primarily to an excellent product mix, high product visibility, nationwide roadshows, and attractive promos.

"We are sensitive about what the market needs and are thus able to combine excellent promos to augment our excellent products. Likewise, our various roadshows and events provide an actual interaction between customers and our products wherein they can learn, not to mention see and experience firsthand, the quality of our products," EPC marketing communications head Randy Kanapi noted.