EPSON to step up North presence

EPSON, which manufactures high-tech printers, is set to explore more vigorously the market of the North, in general, and Punjab, in particular, to increase its market share from 52 per cent in the country.

"Although we have a market share of 52 per cent in the country, in Punjab, EPSON has just a 16 per cent share. By creating awareness about latest technology in printing machines by organising seminars and exhibition, the company has targeted increasing its share in the north market," said Sudhir Saini, area manager (sales) of the company, during an exhibition organised for amateur photographers of Punjab's media city.

At present, the company's turnover from the Indian market was Rs 220 crore. After strengthening its presence in the northern market, the company has set for itself a target of Rs 280 crore, to attain a market share of 23 per cent in Punjab in 2006-07.

"To make our printers popular in the northern market, we have planned to expand our service centre network in the area, and in Punjab, even in small districts of Pathankot, Sangrur, and Barnala, the company has already opened its service centres," Saini said.

For sales promotion, the company has launched special schemes for professional photographers.

After purchasing the products of EPSON, they will be enrolled as members of the photographers' club of the company and from time to time they will be made familiar with latest technology in the field of photography.

The company launched printers of models C58 and CX2900 with a high resolution and capacity of printing 22 pages per minute with two years' warranty on site, he said, adding that while inkjets of printers of other companies cost more than Rs 1,000, in the case of EPSON printers, the cost of inkjets was just Rs 250, which was even less than the cost of refilling of inkjets of other printers.