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18
PRINTERS
Brother is hoping to broaden the
appeal of its HL-S7000 series of high
speed mono inkjet printers – the
world’s fastest desktop mono printers
– by launching two models with slower
print speeds and smaller price tags.
At the same time, it has added extra
paper trays to the premium model.
The range now includes the HL-
S7000DN50, an entry-level 50 page per
minute machine with one paper tray
(£1,600); the HL-S7000DN70, a 70ppm
model with an additional lower paper
tray (£1,800); and the top-of-the-range
HL-S7000DN, which has print speeds of
100ppm, plus three additional paper trays
(£2,000).
Brother UK product manager Stuart
Mabe said: “We have slowed down the
engine to create a range and reduced the
price to try to generate some interest in the
machines. It is a high priced printer, but it
is a niche product: the lifetime costs of the
machines are their differentiator.”
Running costs are very low thanks to
a cost per page of just 0.5p per page –
potentially even 0.3p or 0.4p if you go down
the managed print services (MPS) route.
Growing sales
Mabe said that after a slow start –
55 units sold last year – sales of the
HL-S7000 are picking up and have
surpassed 400 units so far this year.
“Sales are improving because
we are learning all the time, which
is why we have a split range – to
give customers more options. The
printer will never be on a Top Ten
list, but sales are going in the right
direction,” he said.
Mabe added that Brother is
looking for customers with print
volumes of 15,000 to 20,000
pages per month, as they are likely
to be most responsive to Brother's TCO
argument. He said that there were also
opportunities in the healthcare sector,
which took 25 machines in the first three
months of the year.
“We used to have an HL-7050N high
volume laser product. We discontinued
this about six years ago, but still have
healthcare customers who had that model
but never replaced it. The HL-S7000DN
looks like the perfect replacement because
it has four trays and it prints at very high
Brother looking for specialists to sell its 100ppm mono inkjet printer
Brother broadens
appeal of high
speed inkjet range
volumes,” he said.
Mabe pointed out that with four paper
trays, the HL-S7000DN can accommodate
prescription forms, blood sample reports,
A4 paper and letterhead at the same
time, removing the need for users to swap
trays when switching between printing
prescriptions and headed paper. This makes
the printer particularly suitable for external
print centres that print repeat prescriptions
and other items for a community of
surgeries more cost-effectively than
individual surgeries can do themselves.
However, he added that he didn't want
the product to be pigeon-holed in
healthcare.
“There are many other
opportunities we could sell these
printers into,” he said. “Because
it's ink, you don’t need a fuser,
so energy levels are one fifth of
a laser device. There’s a good
green message and it is a chance
to take on copiers and high-end
lasers that are high on price.
We should be able to do more
to target these products going
forward.”
To help push sales, Brother
is looking to appoint specialist
resellers.
“At first, a lot of resellers jumped on
board and put these products online, but it
is clear that that's not the right way to sell
them. You need to sell the TCO message,
tell customers what the advantages are.
We are now looking at more specialist
resellers,” Mabe said. “We don’t want to
sell people the wrong machine. We want
specialists with sales people who do audits
and make sure people have the right
machine.”
Valerie Poret.
Panasonic
European Channel
Manager
Panasonic revamps B2B partner portal
Panasonic has revamped and
extended its B2B partner portal
to cover a much broader range of
products, including printers/MFPs,
phone systems, scanners, projectors,
displays and, later this year,
professional and security cameras.
Now, resellers that sell more than
one category, such as phone systems
and security cameras, can access all the
information they need from a single source.
Previously, Panasonic’s partner portal
was limited to the Communications
division (professional scanners,
multifunctional printers, telephony systems
and SIP terminal devices).
The new portal also makes it easier for
distributors and resellers to register new
business and access the latest product
information, sales news and business
incentives. For the first time, it also includes
a lead allocation feature.
Valerie Poret, Panasonic European
Channel Manager, said: “The Partner
Portal is about closing the gap between
Panasonic, our channel partners and the
end user. Clients will have access to a
wealth of resources through the portal
allowing them to maximise potential sales
and achieve the highest levels of service
for our shared customers.”
The Partner Portal features a full
product library linked to a central database,
an online training programme, instant
answers to product-related questions and
a range of partner tools.
The latter includes an ‘eConfig’
tool that enables telecommunications
specialists to build their customer offer
and a community platform where AV rental
companies can share information about
products available for cross-rental.
Access to content varies by partner
level – Registered, Expert or Solutions –
with high level partners receiving exclusive
benefits and end user business lead
allocation.
Brother:
HL-S7000
