Brother and Epson both expand their business printer market activities, equipping their respective channels to offer new products to their customers.
Brother has opened the 40ppm A4 laser range as a first step in its quest to equip its partners with a product capable of challenging the market’s offerings.
The devices were created with managed print services in mind. It is expected that channel partners will add these new printers onto their existing portfolio.
“This launch marks an important milestone for Brother as we expand our print solutions offering to suit the needs of the modern office,” said Greig Millar, general manager of sales, services and solutions at Brother UK. “The new models extend our offering in colour laser to compete at the top end of the market.
“We know this is vital for MPS partners that are catering for businesses with the highest print volume requirements,” he added. “They can now specify Brother for all their customers’ printing needs, rather than choosing models from a mix of vendors.
Brother says that managed print continues to be popular. IDC predicts that 60% of companies will switch to this method by 2024.
Brother will offer four devices in the A4 market. Millar indicated that the pitch would be appealing to customers. “These workhorse A4 models also prove to be a strong and cost-effective alternative to the heavyweight A3 professional printers on the market, especially for customers in sectors like healthcare and legal services where A3 use is limited,” he said.
Sustainability is the key focus
Brother isn’t the only one who targets the 40ppm market. Epson released recently a line of products that emphasized sustainability.
The vendor has been investing heavily into sustainability, and expects its new products to be in line with both customers as well as partners.
“The new WorkForce Enterprise AM-Series completes our business inkjet line-up from small work-group units to high-speed departmental machines – meaning that no matter the business function or print demand, we have a product to suit,” said Gareth Jay, business unit director of product marketing at Epson Europe.
“With a full range of support from Managed Print Services, Workflow and Remote Service solutions, these products enable a low-maintenance, high-quality, reliable, sustainable print system.”