Inkjet technology has largely earned the reputation of being inferior to laser in black-and-white office printing. But if color printing continues to make inroads in the office, inkjet--which has color-printing advantages over laser--is getting a second look. "We see a very large opportunity for ink to be successful in business from SMBs up through the enterprise," says Hatem Mostafa, senior vice president of Hewlett-Packard's inkjet systems. Several printer vendors are developing next-generation inkjet printers, which they say are faster and more reliable than their predecessors.
Color laser is the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. printer market, with a compound annual growth rate of 15 percent from 2005 to 2010, according to market research firm IDC. VARs, too, say they've seen an uptick in color printing sales. "Our color-laser business in 2000 was very close to zero," says Jim Fall, vice president of strategic planning at Indianapolis-based Cannon IV, which supports nearly 20,000 printers under managed services contracts. "Today, color is about 25 percent of our overall business."
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News source: CRN
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