Cebit review
Published May 28, 2008 at 11:16 pm · Filed under Printer / Copier
Having built a strong base in the consumer and small office/home office markets with groundbreaking products, Samsung is now turning its attention to the business-to-business (B2B) market.
At CeBIT, Samsung positioned itself as a genuine alternative to HP, Ricoh, Canon and Xerox for small and medium-sized business and enterprises, not just in terms of printer hardware but also for print solutions that can be used to control costs or streamline business processes.
In addition to four new colour laser printers/MFPs, five new mono MFPs and three single function laser printers, Samsung introduced 16 new print solutions developed by third parties and Samsung itself.
From a B2B perspective, the most notable launches were Samsung’s high-speed MFPs - the 53 pages per minute MultiXpress 6555N (the world’s fastest A4 digital MFP) and the 38ppm colour C8380ND - which will enable Samsung resellers to compete with copier dealers and meet almost all office printing needs (Samsung is yet to launch an A3 device).
The launch of new software solutions - some of which are embedded in the MFPs themselves - further strengthens Samsung’s B2B offering.
These include Samsung developed products, such as the free SmartThru Office document management software and SmartThru workflow document distribution software, and popular third party solutions, such as Pcounter print tracking, accounting and management software.
Because Samsung’s high volume printers and MFPs incorporate the JScribe Open architecture, customised software solutions can also be easily integrated with the devices.
Another significant announcement for B2B customers was the launch of SamPage Open, Samsung’s second generation managed print services (MPS) offering, which will enable Samsung resellers to provide customers with hardware leasing, cost per page contracts, 4-hour response times and automatic toner ordering.
Because all finance, service and support, including remote monitoring of devices, is provided by Samsung itself, even the smallest reseller can now compete with large copier dealerships that have their own service engineers and finance arms.
Other key areas for Samsung this year are colour printing and multifunctionality. These are not just the fastest growing areas of the market, but also the sectors where Samsung is strongest and most likely to catch up with HP. In the mono A4 MFP market, for example, it is level pegging with HP with 23% market share.
Success in these markets will be critical if Samsung is to achieve ambitious plans for its printing business, which Samsung has identified as the fourth wave of growth for the company, after semiconductors, flat panel TVs and mobile phones.
