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that area and some have secured
patents relating to 3D printing.”)
PrintIT
:
A lot of 3D printing is inkjet
technology. Are you interested in
developing inkjet technology for
office machines as well or are you
focusing entirely on laser?
Dr. KiHo Kim
:
I don’t want to talk
about inkjet. Samsung’s main
business was laser entry-level –
Segment 1 and Segment 2. We
expanded into the A4 mid to high
end segments and introduced our
first A3 laser machine in 2010.
It’s only been five years since we
introduced our first copier in the
A3 market. Instead of doing all
those other things we would like to
focus on laser. Even in the A3 laser
market, we are not the first mover;
we are just a follower. In those
markets, in relation to printing
engines, including printing and
scanning, we just follow. Instead, we
are focusing on the open platform,
on solutions and services. We are
trying to differentiate in that area,
with programmable solutions and
programmable platforms to replace
older localised solutions and reduce
hosting and service requirements.
(
Dr Kiho Kim’s comments about
being a follower in print engine
design notwithstanding, Paul Birkett
then highlighted one area in which
he believes Samsung has taken
a lead, which HP subsequently
referred to when announcing its
intention to buy the Samsung
print business. He said:
“Samsung
engineers its devices to a level I
just haven’t seen before. We did
something called the 1 million
page test. As an example of
the reliability of the device, it
failed just once, a paper jam, in
one million pages. That level of
reliability is unheard of; no other
product has achieved that, so I
think our hardware actually has an
advantage in something that is hard
to communicate to the customer
until they experience it, and that’s
reliability. Samsung engineers its
products to work and they are very
simple for a service technician to
manage. When they take the covers
off our hardware, there’s only like
three things. If you take covers off
another piece of hardware, you have
gears, levers, belts. That doesn’t
exist on our hardware; it’s a very
modern, clean sheet design and
that gives a huge advantage to the
dealer, and eventually the customer
will feel the benefits of better
device reliability.”)
...continued
Expert Opinion:
IDC comments on the strategy behind
HP’s purchase of Samsung’s printer division
HP Inc. is acquiring the printing device
division of a junior player, Samsung
Electronics, for $1.05 billion. The
transaction is subject to regulatory
approval and is expected to be completed
within 12 months. Samsung-branded
printers and multifunctional devices
will stay on the market for another two
years and then will be rebranded to HP.
In South Korea, Samsung will continue to
sell new printers under its own brand.
Samsung initially entered the low-end
printer segment, with models aimed at
home users and small and medium-
sized businesses (SMBs). Of late, it
has tried to enter the higher-margin,
mid-market A4 and A3 printer and
MFP segment, as well as the printing
services market. So far, it has seen
only limited success. According to IDC
research, Samsung claimed a 4.2%
share of the global printing device
market in H1 2016 and a 10.6% share
of the global laser segment.*
HP is buying Samsung’s printing
device division with 6,000 employees
in 50 subsidiaries around the world
and revenue of $1.8 billion in 2015.
The company holds more than 6,500
printing-related patents, possibly the
most crucial aspect of the acquisition.
Besides A4 and A3 laser technology,
Samsung owns advanced mobility and
cloud technology solutions that HP
plans to implement in its products. The
acquisition draws a large question mark
over future collaboration with Canon, HP
Inc.’s current supplier of printing engines
for A4 laser printers and MFPs.
HP and Samsung have been working
together on the development of new A3
printing devices for more than a year.
New products resulting from this effort
were introduced on September 12, but
will not be available until 2017.
While Samsung is going to focus on
its core activities in the area of smart
phones and consumer electronics
following the acquisition, HP Inc. is
entering a new era with new growth
opportunities. Ilona Stankeova, IDC
research director for Imaging Devices
and Document Solutions in the CEMA
region, says HP will focus primarily on an
aggressive entry to the A3 segment where
it currently holds less than a 5% stake.
“The A3 MFP segment is undoubtedly
attractive, in particular as regards the
total page volume and related supplies
of consumables. Our research shows
that A3 laser MFPs account for 40%
of the total page volume in offices and
households globally,” she said.
In relation to A4 laser products,
which make up more than 95% of unit
shipments for both HP and Samsung,
Stankeova added: “HP is getting rid of
a pesky competitor, but the resulting
market share will probably be smaller
than the sum of the two companies’
respective shares today, with vendors
such as Canon, Brother, Ricoh and
Kyocera presumably jumping in to fill
the gap. We expect a major clash in the
colour A4 MFP space, as this is one of
the few growth segments in a printing
device market that has been in decline.”
It will be key for HP Inc. to evaluate
the capabilities of channel partners
— both its own and Samsung’s — in
terms of A3 MFP sales and to adjust
the distribution network for its future
strategy. A3 MFPs are usually supplied
as part of a print service or a wider
enterprise document solutions contract.
The ability to supply not only hardware,
but also services and solutions, will be
a key success factor. The A3 market
is highly competitive, and to succeed
against players like Ricoh, Canon, Xerox
and Konica Minolta, HP will have to
come up with a major innovation of its
current business model that will enable
it to win over their customers.
* Source: IDC Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, Q2 2016
Ilona Stankeova
