Inkjet benefits displace laser as the printing technology of choice, new research reveals

Just months after Epson announced its continued ramp-up of investment into business inkjet printing technology, research shows that 76% of European business decision makers and influencers choose inkjet when presented with the facts surrounding their printing technology choices.

The research, conducted online by Epson Europe, gathered insights from more than 5,000 professionals across six European countries, during the month of September 2017. Based on independently verified facts on the performance of business inkjet versus laser technologies, respondents were asked a series of true/false questions to test their knowledge. The results were surprising; demonstrating that some age-old misconceptions still exist around which technology is the outperformer, particularly in terms of environmental performance.

The majority of respondents (58%) falsely thought that a laser printer produces less CO2 and 54% mistakenly believed it produces less waste than inkjet. Furthermore, 67% of respondents incorrectly guessed that a laser printer results in higher productivity due to less time spent on maintenance and downtime. On the positive side, 62% of respondents knew that inkjet printers consume less energy, and 55% agreed that inkjet printers are faster to print. Epson, as a company with a long heritage in printing innovation, wants to improve the understanding of the benefits of business inkjet as a printing technology that not only supports the bottom line, but also reduces environmental impact.

Xxx, Epson Europe says: “Laser printers have long been the dominant force in office printing, but users are looking for better output at lower cost and higher speeds, while also saving energy. We concluded that the only way to meet these expectations was to drive advances in the inkjet technology we originally developed for industrial printing – an environment in which productivity and quality are critical.

“This development has yielded business inkjet products that deliver speeds of up to 100 pages per minute with a low cost per page, plus reduced waste and energy consumption of up to 99% and 96% respectively when compared to laser printers¹. In addition, maintenance and intervention requirements are up to 98% fewer compared to laser products².

“Inkjet is gaining ground in the printing market. According to market analysts IDC, inkjet is expected to grow 10.2% (CAGR) in Western Europe until 2020³. But there is still a knowledge gap, so we decided to take the printing technology choice to the market – to demonstrate the realities of inkjet versus laser and the impact of each individual’s choice when selecting a printing technology.”

Despite inkjet growth, Epson’s research demonstrates that there are still misconceptions around both technologies, yet business inkjet continues to evolve in line with workplace and workforce needs. In fact, only 16% of respondents knew that inkjet performs better on all five tested fronts: waste, productivity, speed, CO2 and energy use. At a time when workplace standards for corporate social responsibility (including environmental and social considerations) are becoming ever more important across Europe, Epson’s decision to back inkjet is bolstered by the fact that the majority (76%) of Europeans surveyed chose inkjet after being confronted with the realities of their printing technology choice.

This message is especially important for large corporations who will see an increasing need to comply with non-financial reporting standards in the EU on an annual basis. The EU’s goal of addressing climate change with a 20% reduction in CO2 emissions, and a 20% improvement in energy efficiency by 2020, will require the business community particularly to demonstrate that they are meeting the needs of global benchmarks such as the sustainable development goals.

Epson has invested €585 million in new production facilities across Japan and other markets; with €185 million of this dedicated to developing its PrecisionCore technology – an innovation that has revolutionised the business inkjet space.