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Last year was a successful one for Kyocera Mita in Europe, with increased sales of A4 and A3 MFPs. IDC market share fgures show that in 2010, Kyocera’s share of the Western European A3 MFP market (by volume) rose from 5.5% to 6.8%, while its share of the A4 MFP market rose from 6.9% to 7.9%. In the same period, Kyocera’s share of A3/A4 printer sales fell to 9.5% from 11% in 2009. Kyocera Mita performed even better when you look at its market share by value, which grew from 3.8% to 4.6% in the A3 MFP market and from 2.0% to 6.1% in the A4 MFP market. In the A3/A4 printer market its share by value declined slightly from 7.2% to 7.1%.

Having increased sales by 13.9% in its 2011 fnancial year (FY2011), which ended on March 31, 2011, Kyocera has now set itself a target to grow sales by 14% in FY2012.

The challenge it, and every other printer vendor, faces in Europe is how to keep increasing sales in a saturated market. One option that Kyocera plans to pursue is aggressive sales and channel development in growth markets, like Russia, and countries where it has a low market share, such as the Nordics.

In mature markets, like Western Europe, Kyocera aims to develop new product areas, such as Smart MFPs (see last issue), and sectors that still have room for growth, including A4 MFPs and Managed Document Services (MDS).

Kyocera launched its MDS business last year and at the end of the FY2011 had 15,000

A4 MFPs

Kyocera has announced a series of four brand new models – the FS-3540MFP/FS-3640MFP (mono, 40ppm) and the FS-C2526MFP/FS-C2626MFP (26ppm colour and B&W). All feature a 4.3in colour touch-screen display and support for Kyocera’s HyPAS development platform. This enables them to be integrated with enterprise applications via Java-based programming or web services for streamlined electronic workfows.

Four replacement A4 MFPs Kyocera’s new replacement models – the FS-3040MFP+/ FS-3140MFP+ (mono, 40ppm) and FS-C2026MFP+/FS-C2126MFP+ (26ppm colour and B&W) – feature an energy-effcient white LED light source for scanning/copying. As a result, they use 8% less energy than the models they replace and have a completely mercury-free design. Smart A3 MFPs Featured in the last issue of PrinIT, the FS-6025/6030MFP (Mono, 25/35ppm) and FS-C8020/C8025MFP (colour, 20ppm/25ppm) are Kyocera’s frst ECOSYS-based A3 MFPs. This makes them very easy to set-up, install and operate. For most users, the only element that will need replacing is the toner. High volume users can extend the life of a device by buying a new imaging kit after 300,000 pages. A3 MFDs

Kyocera is completely updating its TASKAlfa MFD range with

new models offering nt speeds of 30-80ppm. One of the highlights of these new devices are the options and accessories which are common across the range. In addition, all models support the HyPAS platform, can be enhanced with a Fiery RIP and have a long drum life of 600,000 pages.

Thinking BIG

Kyocera aims to triple its MDS business with an enhanced global offering. James Goulding reports

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Managed Document Services

multi-brand devices under management, producing 22 million pages each month. This year it plans to triple its MDS business to 50,000 devices producing 54 million pages a month.

To help it achieve this goal, Kyocera has enhanced its MDS offering in three respects: 1. It has developed a pan-European framework that will allow it to meet the needs of European organisations with a common framework, including a unifed cloud-based platform, unifed sales approach, unifed project management, common quality management criteria and a unifed organisational structure.

2. It has established a new Global Services organisation to target multi-national organisations, with global account teams and global account managers in each region; and 3. It has refned its MDS process from a three-stage implementation (Assess, Optimise and Manage) to a fve-stage process that includes:

u Assess: an analysis of a customer’s existing feet and workfows;

u Design: the development of a new infrastructure to reduce costs, optimise workfows and increase productivity;

u Implement: using a project management approach consistent across all regions;

u Manage: the remote monitoring of devices and regular performance reviews; and

u Optimise: the on-going optimisation of feet and workfows throughout contract term. In addition to its expanded MDS offering, Kyocera has started its new fnancial year with the launch of numerous new A3 and A4 MFPs (see box). The new product range is well suited to managed print services, with its support for the HyPAS development platform and a commonality of options and parts that gives customers more fexibility to adapt their printer feet to changing needs. These features are also likely to be welcomed by non-MDS customers, especially businesses interested in streamlining business processes.

In recent years, Kyocera has been successful in aligning its hardware offering with the need for businesses to reduce costs and waste. This message is core to the appeal of managed document services too. With successful MDS implementations already under its belt (see RSA case study overleaf) and an enhanced service offering, Kyocera has an opportunity to build even deeper relationships with its customer base.

Kyocera New Product Highlights