The future is bright for the colour laser printer market, with product enhancement including improved print quality, speed and output capabilities, connectivity, reliability and cost benefits.
It is also becoming easier to integrate printers with other devices, over and above the standard computer networks and PC's.
Jacques Duyver, CEO Itec SA, distributor for the Konica Minolta laser printer range in South Africa, says the long term business plan is to grow market share in the colour laser printer market. Itec, he adds, has already made significant inroads into the local market since acquiring distribution rights in February this year. "The quality of print produced on the Konica Minolta colour laser printer is achieved largely through the developments in the optical systems used in the printers and the use of new advanced polymerized toner. Unlike traditional colour laser there is no longer a need for silicone oil in a machine to ensure the toner does not damage parts. The new toner is finer and fuses onto the paper at a lower temperature, resulting in reduced power consumption.
The advanced toner also has better fusing characteristics. Which allows it to adhere more successfully to paper and it also reduces deterioration on the working parts of the printer, with which it comes into contact. Itec SA is currently positioned to supply networked colour laser printers with the print speed of a monochro me laser printer, but at the price of a black and white network laser printer. This has resulted in the midrange black and white laser printer sales being replaced with the colour laser option.
Future plans include the introduction of high speed colour laser printers, which print in colour but at the same speed as a monochrome networked printer and at prices that the SME business can afford without compromising print quality. "With speeds of 16, 20 and 25 colour pages per minute a single colour laser printer can be successfully shared amongst a workgroup of five to 20 people, lessing the need for individual inkjet printers and significantly reducing printing costs. With USB 2.0 and Ethernet as standard interfaces on the latest products, one can connect into virtually any computer system, Machines with a PCMCIA card will become standard to take a wireless network card. These high levels of connectivity allows for the ability to connect to additional devices such as direct links to digital cameras, cell phones, PDA's or any other electronic devise which could produce a printable page.
"They also provide the opportunity to start printing from more platforms on a low cost colour laser printer. All processing is now done via PC, and the processed image is then transmitted to the printer, similar processing technology has been used in inkjet over the years." The Konica Minolta colour laser brand 'magicolor' (launched in 1994) was the first desktop colour laser printer in the world. Konica Minolta is one of the few manufacturers to produce all the parts that go into a laser printer, including the print engine, controller board, software drivers and consumables, to ensure compatibility is always a constant.
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