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Mark Ash, GM or Print at Samsung UK spoke to PCR about the tech company’s new range of enterprise-focused printers, and what it means for the industry.
Samsung’s new MX7 is capable of printing up to 300,000 pages a month, and can take cartridges that churn out up to 30,000 colour and 45,000 mono pages making it time-saving and cost-efficient.
As good as devices like these are for the environment, and for businesses looking to save a few pounds, will if an increased uptake of such eco-friendly printers impact suppliers?
Ash reckons that it will, but there is more to it than that. He told PCR: “The reality is if we look at the way the market is going, it is becoming incredibly niche and paradigm driven so most of us consume content on a display.
“The requirement to print still exists and the cost to serve the customer is increasingly competitive, plus it is a hell of a lot more eco friendly if you can use the same device to print up to 300,000 documents in a month, or use less toner and ink cartridges it reduces the cost.”
Ash talked us through the consumer to enterprise shift that Samsung is seeing: “The retail consumer side of our business used to be prevalent. There was a 90/10 split and as we move through this year, we will be looking at 80 per cent business and 20 per cent consumer.
“Enterprise is a key growth area for us and if we look at large enterprise, Samsung has a dedicated team of key account managers that cover off all the large enterprise and also the larger accounts in the public sector.”
You can imagine that with the increased importance of enterprise and SMB clients, the necessity of managed services would also become more apparent.
Ash agrees, saying: “Managed print services for all vendors are critically important. For business efficiencies, reducing waste printing and also really integrating the document work place, and reintegrating the workflows.
“That is where we are looking to take a lead in the future. We are looking for the growth in SMB, and how we can interact with their workflow.”
To do so, Ash said that Samsung is offering a faster print pace per minute, a critical selling point when pushing into a professional service such as the legal market or publishing.
He concluded: “You absolutely need to push through heavy files in industries such as publishing, with a number of publishers that we have been working with – their editors, who are quite frankly terrifying, said that they need things turned around in the fastest possible time with no tolerance given.”
Read the upcoming March issue of PCR for a closer look at managed services.
