Shweta)-What have been the key performance highlights for Konica Minolta in 2013?
Mr Tadahiko Sumitani)-We have sustained our market leadership position in Production Printing and A3 Colour MFP Segments. We have strengthened our relationship with our partners and are expanding into IT Channel for A4 Laser Printers and MFDs.
Shweta)-What do you see as the needs of small and medium sized business today and the solutions Konica Minolta hopes to bring them today?
Mr Tadahiko)-Konica Minolta has a host of products and solutions that fulfil the needs of SME Segment. Our MFPs are Cloud enabled and come with a host of solutions that enhance office productivity. Our Colour MFPs are well known for their excellent Colour Quality and they are also equipped with Dual Side Scan that allows our customers to enhance their complete tasks quickly and efficiently. There are a lot more and we invite you and your readers to visit our Digital Image Square to experience these capabilities, first hand.
Shweta)-What’s your forecast on mobile printing as more people use smart phones and tablets that are tethered to a printer?
Mr Tadahiko)-It has already become one more platform that organisations plan for, when designing their print environment. Use of hand held devices like smartphones and tablets along with BYOD policies being rolled out by enterprises is here to stay.
Shweta)-Could you tell us something about Konica Minolta’s geo-expansion strategies?
Mr Tadahiko)-We have established our presence in all most all the parts of India and we are continuing to expand in a number of tier 2 and 3 cities that presents a great market for our products, solutions and services. We have the capability to service our products from 336 points in the country at present and will continue to expand further in all the regions.
Shweta)-There is a lot of discussion among some hardware vendors about being cloud-ready and quipped to take their offerings to the customers. What is Konica Minolta on this front?
Mr Tadahiko)-Konica Minolta engines have been amongst the first to be supported by cloud. While this technology allows people to print through mobiles and tabs without going to the devises, the entire control panel can also be customised by users for their work. Besides this, browsing facilities are also supported by each of the engines.
Shweta)-Why is MPS not a strong focus area for Konica Minolta in India, especially at a time when businesses are looking at opex models?
Mr Tadahiko)-We call it Optimised Print Services and it is a focus area for us. We have already implemented OPS in over 20 sites in India and are adding to it every month. Konica Minolta has a Global Account Management Program, under which, we offer unified products, solutions and services across all the sites of our customers, irrespective of their location in the globe. We also offer these services to our enterprise customers in India who have national presence.
