Epson India’s Kumar reflects on growth
January 11, 2019
In a new interview, Siva Kumar, the General Manager of Inkjet Printers at the OEM’s Indian subsidiary, looks back at the company’s evolution, and its future prospects.
Talking to the Times of India, Kumar discusses the recent rebranding of Epson’s InkTank printers, which became EcoTanks, in order “to differentiate ourselves from the market,” as well as the driving principles behind the machine itself.
“We understood Epson printers were good printers with several features, but none of the customers were happy about the cartridges,” Kumar explains. “Since the time we introduced InkTank printers, we have seen successful growth ratio in respect to volume. If you see the current situation, in the overall printer market, 68 percent is InkTank and 32 percent is ink cartridge. The advantages of InkTank is being accepted from all the verticals, be it home, office, or corporate.”
Kumar also discusses early hurdles that the InkTank presented, including customers thinking it to be prohibitively expensive, saying “it took us some time to communicate the advantages.” However, following investment in promotion of the product, and its various advantages, “even the media supported us in writing about the new technology.”
Across the interview, Kumar also reflects on the growth that the EcoTanks and InkTanks have spurred, and how Epson can harness this to continue pushing forwards over the next decade. He also reflected on the relationship between the company and Hyderabad, its base, and the “second-largest state” in terms of EcoTanks.
“From 1998 till now, Hyderabad has reformed and evolved as a market,” he says. “From daily usage to retail markets,” everything is backed by technology there.”
“Hyderabad has not only incorporated the technology but also grew with it. The basic infrastructure is built around the IT technology, and the technology variants are much higher. In Hyderabad, people are more into compact designs which are easy to use.”
Kumar also discusses the success Epson has had in India’s Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities, and how innovations like the EcoTank has helped build that market. To read the interview in full, click here.
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