Epson Says Goodbye to Laser Printers

While lasers require heat to burn the ink onto paper, heat-free inkjet printers use much less energy, require less maintenance, and fewer consumables to operate - overall, the technology is significantly greener than laser.

"Our company is now 100% focused on Piezo heat-free inkjet printers, and with the right technology, we are delivering efficient, sustainable printing solutions for our partners and end users," said Rob Clark, senior vice president EMEA at Epson, who said that leaving the laser printer market was inevitable: "We are committed to sustainable innovation and action, which is incompatible with selling laser printers. They consume more energy and use more consumables than business inkjet printers," he added.

The need for a paradigm shift is confirmed by market forecasts. They clearly show that the demand side is becoming more and more demand-driven for more sustainable operations. In this year's survey by IDC, a major player in business intelligence, 78% of business decision-makers surveyed said inkjet MFPs are greener than laser printers. This is in line with the fact that 88% of respondents consider energy consumption and waste to be "extremely" or "very" important when choosing new printing devices. Against this backdrop, IDC expects the Western European business inkjet printer market to grow by 5.1% year-on-year, while demand for laser printing is expected to fall by 0.4% per year. The market in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the Middle East, shows similar trends.

The high-profile announcement coincides with the launch of a new product range. The new WorkForce Enterprise AM series completes the range of business inkjet MFPs, from small workgroup devices to high-speed devices that meet the needs of entire departments. With a print capacity of 40-60 pages per minute, the business MFPs offer sustainable, heat-free operation, while their small footprint and lightweight design mean they require fewer resources to manufacture and deliver. The benefits of high-capacity inkjet cartridges are realized simultaneously in material usage, transportation, storage, and supplies management, as well as less downtime for routine maintenance, which can be performed simply, quickly, and efficiently with purpose-designed access.

"Our new printers complete our range of business inkjet MFPs, meaning that whatever your business function or printing needs, we can offer a product to suit," said Gareth Jay, Epson Europe. He said that all products in Epson's business inkjet printer range provide businesses with the technology they need to meet their sustainability goals. "We are committed and proud to provide our partners and customers with sustainable technology that makes a real contribution to reducing power consumption and CO2 emissions," he added.

After all, printing will be an inevitable part of office work for some time to come. In its Hungarian survey of both employees and employers on the changes during the pandemic, Epson concluded that printing will not disappear: only one in four (25%) of the business decision-makers surveyed expect the importance of printing to decline, while 73% believe there will always be documents that need to be printed.

They can now choose from a range of environmentally friendly solutions: Epson inkjet printers, for example, can reduce energy consumption by up to 83%. This is not insignificant, given that it represents one-tenth of office energy consumption, which is becoming an increasingly important cost factor as the energy crisis increases. Most important, however, is the environmental aspect: "any business that switches to inkjet technology is contributing to a more sustainable society," stresses Gareth Jay.