Challenging to change business model for home printers What is Epson's large capacity ink model strategy?

The business model of a household printer is an irritating structure of collecting with a replacement ink with a price "higher than blood" by selling the printer main body at the resolution of a deficit, due to the appearance of a cheap third party exchange ink, a business model It is itself fluctuating. Meanwhile, the industry leader Epson has launched a new "large capacity ink model" that is genuinely manufacturer to reform the irritated printer business model. Whether large-volume ink model strategy and winning there there is a lot of attention not only from the printer industry but also from users.

Epson Transforms Printer Category with EcoTank
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7221854-epson-ecotank-printers/

Review: Epson Kills the Printer Ink Cartridge - WSJ
http://www.wsj.com/articles/review-epson-kills-the-printer-ink-cartridge-1438683871

In addition to Epson, printer makers such as Canon, HP, Brother and others take a business model to collect losses by selling inexpensive printers by selling replaceable cartridges, further boost profits, but third parties Due to the development of cheap replaceable cartridges made by party and refill (refill) technology, we are falling into a situation where profits can not be recovered from replacement ink in recent years.


Printer makers have taken technical measures to prevent cartridges other than genuine products from being used, but third party cartridges to avoid these technologies quickly appeared, and even court battles complaining of patent infringement were defeated As a result, we are unable to suppress the rise of third party cheap inks, and the limitations of irritated business models are being whispered.

Among them, Epson is a printer headMicro piezo technology, And because it does not use heat as other manufacturers, due to the advantage that the durability of the printer head is high, remodeled products equipped with non-genuine large capacity exchange ink are extremely popular mainly in emerging countries It is said that the demand for genuine ink dropped by doing so, the advantage faced a situation where it became an issue.

In response to such a situation, Epson launched a large-capacity ink model equipped with a much larger capacity ink cartridge than the conventional model and replied, "Instead of dramatically lowering the price of replacement ink, In 2010, we took a strategy in the Indonesian market to overcome the traditional business model, which will raise the level significantly.


Although the running cost is good compared with the conventional product, the ink cost of the large-capacity ink printer is about twice that of the third party cheap ink, and the price of the printer main body is 2.5 times as high as that of the conventional product As a result, there was a doubt as to whether it could be sold, it was a big hit against the original forecast. The reason is that in Indonesia, home printers are also used for business use, not only the running cost of the large-capacity ink printer is lowered but also the risk of failure like the case of using a non-genuine printer decreases, Because it became possible to print a large amount after reducing it.

Starting with success in the Indonesian market, Epson sells large-capacity ink models with high main unit prices but low running costs and dramatically reducing the number of ink exchanges, mainly in emerging countries, We expanded it to more than 140 countries. In developed countries including European countries, large-capacity ink models are also sold, and only Japan and the United States are not sold in major markets.

And on August 4, 2015, Epson plans to introduce five models of the large capacity ink model "EcoTank" for the North American marketAnnouncementDid.


You can see what kind of printer the EcoTank series is in the following movie.

Introducing the All-New EcoTank All-in-One Supertank Printers - YouTube


This is the EcoTank printer. The bulging part on the side is the ink filled part.


household use


SOHOfor


There is a model for business.


The point that EcoTank comes with two years' worth of ink is a big feature.


Regardless of color, black and white, it can print thousands of sheets with A4 size.


When ink runs out, refill (refill) with the attached ink is possible.


In the case of a large capacity model, it is OK if it is replaced with a refill ink that has entered a vinyl container.


EcoTank series household model "ET - 2550" will be released in September 2015 with the main unit price of 400 dollars (about 50,000 yen) and "ET - 4550" 500 dollars (about 62,000 yen). In addition, the EcoTank series says that packages for refill ink and refill vinyl bottles will be sold for 52 years for $ 52 (about 6500 yen). If you carefully use the printer itself, you do not need to replace the printer like every year, so the running cost seems to be cheaper than before as a result.

Epson's large capacity ink model printer seems to be economical because it can be used at low cost if you look at high-quality genuine ink in the long run, without having to replace the printer more than necessary for ink. Whether a large-capacity ink model will be introduced into the Japanese market seems to have a big influence on the sales situation of the EcoTank series in the USA, but also because it is possible to obtain a sense of security of "genuine products", not to mention a low running cost , Business opportunities in Japan are likely to be great. Trends in the printer market in the future, including whether other companies will follow Epson 's strategy, are the focus of attention.