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10
PRINT.IT
Printer Market
Founded in Bedfordshire in
1992, TheMagicTouch is a
specialist supplier of surface
transfer paper for textiles,
hard surfaces and professional
applications. It also sells a
range of compatible A3 and
A4 printers and provides a
first line of support.
Seven years ago, after
experiencing paper-handling
difficulties with ‘out of the
box’ printers from a number of
manufacturers, TheMagicTouch
chose OKI as its preferred
supplier and now sells 20-30 A4
printers and 10-20 A3 printers
a month.
“Whether it’s for temporary
tattoo or dark colour textile
transfer printing, OKI’s
solutions handle the specialist
paper perfectly without any
professional support,” says Carl
Newbury, General Manager of
TheMagicTouch. “We now have
1,500 customers using OKI’s
solutions and they are working
with the devices to develop print
transfers for everything from
t-shirts to flip-flops.”
He added: “Our paper works
with many other brands of
printer, but OKI’s devices are
the only printers that we sell and
offer with a five star rating.”
In order to make transfer
printing as simple as possible,
TheMagicTouch and OKI have
developed special drivers
for TMT-badged OKI devices
featuring a full list of transfer
paper options. All the user has
to do is click on their preferred
option and the printer will
automatically adjust settings to
suit the media selected.
As well as reliable paper-
handling, TheMagicTouch has
found that the toner used in OKI
devices provides better garment
‘washability’ than other well-
known brands.
www.oki.co.uk
Inkjet vs Laser
continued...
office, CAD, photo proofing,
signage and various industrial
applications. Businesses today
want cost effective and energy
efficient printer solutions that
will support their most pressing
needs and demands. Our firm
belief is that inkjet printers can
completely deliver on this and
shape the future of business
printing. This is the reason
we’ve invested in our Workforce
Pro inkjet range, whose running
costs are half those of a laser
and can save up to 80% in
power consumption. What’s
more, on a practical note, the
design of these printers is based
on robust, large format printers,
rather than consumer models
– making them well suited to
the business market. Finally,
there’s no need to wait for a
laser to heat up when using
inkjet printers. Businesses can
simply turn on and print, helping
drive everyday efficiency in a
competitive climate where every
second counts.”
Andy Johnson, senior product
manager at Brother, said: “The
inkjet market is thriving: figures
from CONTEXT demonstrate unit
sales of all-in-one inkjets for
business were up
17% year-on-year
in Q2 for 2012,
and we envisage
this growth
continuing for the
foreseeable future.
The popularity of
the machines can
in part be attributed to
businesses looking at total cost
of ownership. IT buyers don’t
simply look at the price of the
machine, they look at running
costs and the functionality of
the device to ensure they are
making a wise investment for
their business. High levels of
functionality in business inkjets
also ensure their popularity.
Mobile printing options, such as
AirPrint, which supports BYOD
as well as mobile working, and
duplex printing, which saves
money and uses less paper, are
examples of features that buyers
are now expecting. Vendors
need to remain innovative
to keep ahead of consumer
expectations; Brother brought
A3 all-in-one machines to the
market which continue to
surpass all sales expectations.”
OKI commented:
“Considering price erosion in the
inkjet printer and MFP market it
is not really surprising that there
is consolidation in the inkjet
printer/MFP manufacturing
sector especially when 98%
of the sales of the 3.5 million
colour inkjet MFPs that enter
the UK market are from just
5 manufacturers leaving little
room for minor players. OKI has
pioneered LED technology for
over 20 years and views this as
the technology of choice for the
vast majority of business users.
LED printers and MFPs offer
media flexibility, outstanding
quality and unrivalled reliability
as highlighted by the recent
PC Pro Excellence Award
for
printers.”
Jamie MacKenzie, Head
of Product Marketing at laser
printing specialist Samsung
Electronics, said: “Considering
changes that are taking place
in the printing marketplace
we see end users, whether
at home or at work, printing
much more economically
and taking advantage of their
assets as much as possible.
At the same time, competition
remains high and businesses,
regardless of their size, still
need to represent themselves
in the most professional way
possible. At Samsung, our core
focus remains laser technology,
as it has been for the last
20 years, as we feel that this
technology provides users with
a complementary mix of cost
effectiveness and high quality
output. After recently reviewing
laser and inkjet technologies,
we found that quality of output
and longevity of cartridges are
much more favourable with
laser devices. Inkjet remains
a core technology within the
market, but it is key that users
understand the technologies
available to them and make
an educated decision as to
which is best for
their current
and future
situation.”
Giving printers the MagicTouch