Tuesday, 17 July 2007

Brother’s latest Printers & MFCs Help SMBs Stay Competitive

Colour is the future of printing. According to Access Market International (AMI) Partners, printing in colour serves not just the aesthetic function but a business function as well...

Colour is the future of printing. According to Access Market International (AMI) Partners, printing in colour serves not just the aesthetic function but a business function as well.

Printing invoices, marketing collateral and complex charts adds a huge differential to a company and gives its documents a more polished, professional image and the market most interested in establishing these qualities is apparently the small and medium businesses (SMBs).

“..smaller sized businesses…hungry for growth and ready to get to the next stage of IT adoption…they demand cost-effective, technologically sound and high-value printing solutions…colour laser printers have a greater penetration among medium business at 75% and are fast gaining traction among small businesses… at 31%..” commented Raju Chellam, Singapore-based vice president of AMI Partners on the current situation of SMB adoption of colour printers in the Singapore region.

Focused on exploiting this lucrative area, Brother has unveiled a range of colour laser standalone printers and all-in-one Multi-Function Centers (MFCs) targeted at the SMBs across the Asian region whilst addressing major concerns such as data security, initial cost of purchase and long-term operating costs.

Leveraging on its own proprietary print engine technology, Brother’s aims to “redefine” business with its new line up of colour laser printers and MFCs —HL 4040CN, HL 4050CDN, DCP 9040CN, MFC 9440CN and MFC 9840CDW -- that boast innovative technology.

Notable features include allowing users to print high quality monochrome documents even after the colour toner cartridge runs out, restricting colour print usage by only allowing those with a password to print colour documents , an electro photographic technology that increases the print speed four times faster – up to 20 ppm for A4 mono/colour – by transferring all four colours to the media using an overlapping manner in a single pass and a built-in USB interface at the front of the printer that will allow users to print directly from their USB media devices.

According to AIM reports, price is a key consideration for most SMBs as they usually have limited internal funds thus; they demand a high ROI on the IT products and services they acquire. Brother believes it will be able to tackle these concerns with its latest range.

“ With Bother’s ability to maintain low cost of ownership, we predict business owners will soon rely on our colour printers and MFCs to print monochrome documents and we are poised to make considerable headway in this area,” said Tetsuo Watanabe, managing director, Brother International Singapore.

Brother’s entire new range of printers and MFCs are available through Brother International Singapore authorized distributors and resellers. Each model carries a 2-year on-site warranty and is supported by the Brother Customer Service Center.

Brother reported net sales in AP excluding Japan at USD 506 million at the end of March 2007.