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HP/SAMSUNG
ownership. For four years, they don’t have
to buy another toner cartridge. So vendors
like us cannot make money by selling those
Segment 1 and 2 printers today.
And the worst thing is non-genuine
toner cartridge vendors, mainly from
China. They are killing us – they are killing
Samsung, killing HP, killing Brother and
so on. So the market perspective in the
A4 entry business is terrible. I have many
friends in HP, Brother and other vendors
are they have all given up in Segment 1.
That is what is happening.
So everyone is working on the A4 mid
to high-end segment and A3 business and
they are trying to expand their business
into services and solutions. This business
is not all about paper; it is about the
office. We call the A3 copier business
office automation; it is all about office and
documents. The printing industry should
cover a bigger area than just printing,
including workflow solutions and services
and maybe document display.
PITR
: Apart from smartphones are
there any other areas of Samsung’s
business that are influencing printer
development?
Dr. KiHo Kim:
Our strategy is, instead
of providing closed printers and copiers,
to provide an open platform for printing,
for copying, for scanning, for documents.
As I mentioned, the paradigm is changing
from a paper-based, paper processing
business to a document business. People
are consuming documents, not only in
paper, but also on-screen; and not only
in the office, but also on the move. The
industry should follow that new paradigm.
That’s why we provide a so called open
platform so that they can connect with
mobile devices. The smartphone device
is the primary device people use to get
information, to save information – not only
consumers but also office workers using
BYOD devices.
(
Answering the question more directly,
Paul Birkett
referred to the future
launch of the Smart Security Manager app
incorporating KNOX, Samsung’s security
platform for mobiles, which has now been
extended to other product areas including
print. He said:
“In this context, KNOX
for printing is actually quite a big deal,
because KNOX is the most secure mobile
device platform on the market today.
We have implemented a lot of the same
capabilities that exist in KNOX around
ARM DPM, around BIOS protection, around
malware protection, and made it simple
and not hidden behind some obscure IT
management platform. Anybody can press
the big green button to secure their device.
I think we have potentially done something
that takes the whole security headache
away. We have done our own research and
we believe we easily match the best on the
market, which will be HP.”)
PITR
: Samsung has been expanding
its solutions and services, for
example with the acquisition of
PrinterOn and its relationship with
Nuance. Are you going to pursue a
strategy of alliances and acquisitions
in the future?
Dr. KiHo Kim
:
Our strategy is to provide
a global platform for copiers and printers,
like MX4 and MX7, but the solution on top
of it is not global but localised, because the
right solution and service varies depending
on the region and country and the vertical
market. Even in the same vertical market,
companies will have different applications
and need different solutions depending
on their size or speciality. One company
cannot provide a solution for all. That’s
why we have open platforms, so that our
partners can easily programme and provide
a customised solution for the end customer.
We cannot do that. PrinterOn is basic
technology. That’s why we acquired it; it’s
more bread and butter. In each market the
local reseller or local dealer knows their
customers very well and already has strong
relationships. We provide them with the
tools so that they can provide solutions, in
a better way with less cost.
PITR
: A lot of your competitors are
moving into 3D printing. Is this
technology of interest to Samsung?
Dr. KiHo Kim
:
Yes, but in the long
term. Right now, we are watching and
preparing for it. 3D printing is in the early
stages and needs to overcome the gap
between market expectations and current
technology. They haven’t crossed that
chasm yet, but they are working on it. We
think it is interesting technology and our
R&D centre is working on it. But right now
we are waiting.
(
Perhaps shedding light on the large
number of inkjet patents Samsung has
been accumulating, a Samsung marketing
executive added:
“3D printing is an
interesting area, but in terms of business
we are not considering it yet. But, as you
may know, Samsung has a huge R&D
organisation and some of our engineers
are doing research in that area and some
have secured patents relating to 3D
printing.”)
PITR
: 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 – 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 alluded 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.”)
The
smartphone
device is
the primary
device people
use to get
information,
to save
information
– not only
consumers
but also office
workers using
BYOD devices
...continued
