News Release: Epson Malaysia Scores Double-Digit Growth For 3 Years Running

[Kuala Lumpur, 11 May 2015] – Epson, the world leader in digital imaging and printing solutions, today announced double digit growth for the third year running spanning its financial years for FY2013, FY2014 & FY2015¹. On the back of last year’s great performance, Epson’s strong showing across all key business units in Malaysia has once again helped drive the overall FY2015 sales up 14 percent from the year before.

“Epson’s growth momentum in Malaysia is especially significant given that it has achieved back-to-back double-digit growth for 3 years running. This achievement is a testament to the continuous innovation in our products, our relentless commitment to listening attentively to customer feedback, and the ability to give our customers what they want, thereby creating value for them to keep coming back for more,” said Shimizu Tomoya, Country Manager, Epson Malaysia.

Overall, Epson’s robust performance was led by three segments in product portfolio. They are the inkjet printers business, the projector business and the dot matrix printers segment. The revenue for the inkjet printer business grew by 34% year-on-year, followed by 28% growth in the projector business, while the dot matrix printers grew by 22% for the same period.

Due to the appeal of lower costs of operation, the L-Series inkjet printers have continued to make inroads into the small and medium enterprise (SME) market. In the projector business, Epson’s market share stands at 36.8% as of the end of December 2015, up from 32.4% from the same corresponding period the year before. Epson also remains the No. 1 projector brand for the 3^rd consecutive year in Malaysia², while for the dot matrix printer business, Epson remains the No.1 in Malaysia³.

“Despite the anticipated slowdown in spending last year, we managed to surpass our targets with double digit growth both in installation and sales performance, which means that we’re capturing a bigger share of the market,” said Danny Lee, General Manager, Sales & Marketing, Epson Malaysia.

Building on its strong track record, Epson continues to make inroads into other market segments and product categories including the signage and textile printing segment. As of March 2016, Epson has 15% share of the signage printing market and the company plans to achieve 30% share in the coming year. To this end, Epson will be focusing on growing the signage and textile printer business in FY16. Epson will also continue to capitalize its leading position in the education sector, where many of its projectors are now the recommended brand.

Looking forward, in 2016, Epson Malaysia not only plans to build on its growth traction but will also introduce key innovations such as the use of its Precision Core technology in selected ranges of business inkjet printers and all across commercial and industrial printers resulting in improved print speed and reliability. Other innovations will see Epson introducing laser light projectors and the enhancement of micro display for head-mount devices.

“This year’s focus will be on developing corporate business, leveraging on mid-to high-end inkjet printing solutions and laser light source technology for projection. Our aim is to grow the projector market share to 40%,” said Lee.

One of the key strategies used to grow the projector market will be to introduce the world’s first suite of 3LCD laser light source projectors with 4K compatible lenses, with brightness ranging from 5,500 lumens up to 8000 lumens to be launched by the Q2 2016. In tandem with this, Epson also plans to launch its flagship product of the year – 25,000 lumens projector for event staging and concert usage by Q3 2016. Another significant product announcement in FY16 will be the ultra-compact and stylish Point-Of-Sale (POS) tablet. The device is aimed at the lower tiered specialty and hospitality segment, and will be launched sometime in the third quarter of 2016.

“2015 has been a great year for Epson Malaysia and as we celebrate our 25^th Silver anniversary in 2016, we are poised to grow even further. Notwithstanding the market conditions, we will still continue our marketing effort and to invest in technology, brand and product awareness to ensure that Epson will continue to be the market leader in the years to come,” said Shimizu Tomoya.

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Editor’s Note

1. Epson’s FY2015 financial year starts April 2015 and ends in March 2016
2. Based on total shipment unit in 2014 (Source: Futuresource Consulting)
3. Based on total shipment unit in 2014 by (Source: IDC)