In keeping with its thrust on its LCD Monitor and Printer businesses, Samsung India has re-christened its IT peripherals Division as Samsung 'Digital Imaging Solutions' Business. The Company, which is targeting a 100% jump in LCD Monitor sales (by volume) and 50% jump in Printer sales this Year, has announced several new initiatives to strengthen its 'Digital Imaging Solutions' Business.
Samsung has announced the launch of three new, advanced, feature rich, premium LCD Monitor series –Myst, Mendel and Mobius –in the 17" to 22" screen size segment in the Indian market. The Company today also announced strategic new distribution tie ups for its printers –with Lipi Data Systems Ltd. for distribution of select hi end network printers and with Kores for distribution of its consumables. Samsung also enhanced its Multi Function Printer range by launching the World's smallest Colour Laser MFP, CLX-3160 and its Digital Multi Function Printer, SCX-6345N.
Announcing the Company's new initiatives, stated Mr. Sanjay Sharma, VP- Digital Imaging Solutions Business, Samsung India , "Our strategy to grow our LCD business will be to create consumer awareness and encourage consumers to upgrade to LCD Monitors basis the technology and feature enhancements of the new range." Thus, while the flagship 'Myst' series of LCD Monitors scores on account of its unique design – it comes with a soft minimal (bolt-less) design, with a New Ball Hinge mechanism –and offers a response time of 5ms and Contrast ratio of 700:1, the Samsung Mendel series of LCD Monitors are optimized for Windows Vista software.
Available in 19" (932 B), 20" (206 BW) and 22" (226 BW) screen sizes, the Mendel series have a 16:10 Wide Format, a soft minimalist design and a response time as low as 2ms. The estimated street prices for the 'Myst' series, available in 17"(732N) and 19"(932B) are Rs.13,800/- and Rs.19,800/- respectively. The estimated street prices for the 'Mendel' series would be Rs.22,000/- for 931BW, Rs.26,000/- for 206 BW and Rs.35,000/- for 226 BW.
The Samsung 'Mobius' LCD Monitor, available in 19" (971P) is unique both on account of its design –it comes with a triple hinge stand –and its performance. It offers the World Best image quality and contrast ratio of 1500:1, supports 16.7 million colours and has a response time of 6ms. The estimated street price for 'Mobius' 971 P would be Rs.28,000/-. "We expect our LCD Monitor sales to contribute around 38% by volume and 60% by value to our total monitor business this year. Monitors and Printers are our key growth drivers in this year", states Mr. Harry Ahn, Vice President, Digital Imaging Solution Business, Samsung India . With the introduction of the new LCD series, Samsung has a range of 18 LCD Monitor models in the screen sizes between 17" to 46", priced in the range between Rs.8900/- to Rs 210000/-.
Samsung has also announced its growth strategy for its Printer Business. "One of the key strategies for achieving our targeted growths for our printer business this year is to expand our dedicated sales force for printers. Accordingly, we are expanding our sales and marketing teams fourfold in the first Quarter of this year" states Mr. Ahn. In addition to growing its Printer manpower, the Company is also going in for strategic distribution tie ups to enhance its reach for Printers.
The Company has also announced a strategic tie up with leading Printing and Automation Solutions Company, Lipi Data System, for the distribution of its hi-end network printers like ML-2571N, ML-3051 ND, ML-3561ND and ML-4551ND. "We will leverage Lipi Data Systems reach in the Government and Corporate channel for fully tapping these sectors" states Mr. Sharma. Lipi Data Systems will also function as an authorized service partner for the above range of Samsung network printers.
Samsung has also announced its tie up with Kores for the distribution of its Printer consumables. The addition of Kores stationary channel, will provide Samsung a strong reach in B & C Class cities as well as give access to small retail stores for Consumable Sales .With its expanded network printer range (ML-2571 N, ML-3051 ND, ML-4551 N) launched in the last quarter of 2006, Samsung expects to tap the fast growing, high potential Corporate and SMB segment.
Samsung has also strengthened its Colour Laser offering by launching its compact, first colour laser multifunction printer, CLX-3160 FN model in the Indian market. The compactness and versatility of this 4-in-1 CLX-3160 FN Printer (Print-Copy-Scan-Fax) makes it the ideal choice for SMB and small workgroup printing needs.
Following on from the CLP-300 series, Samsung's patented NO-NOIS TM technology in the CLX-3160FN model allows for a 30% reduction in size and a 33% reduction in weight over its competitors. The Samsung CLX-3160 FN is the quietest printer in its class. Samsung's unique USB Direct functions will enable PC less scanning and printing by utilizing USB Memory. Supporting PictBridge, an industry standard to connect digital imaging devices to printing devices, the CLX-3160 FN can quickly and easily print images in digital camera with a connection to the printer's USB port. The estimated street price for CXL-3160FN is Rs.44,990/-.
Samsung has also announced the launch of its powerful monochrome multifunction laser printer, SCX-6345 N, designed specifically for small to medium sized offices. With an impressive printing and copying speed of 43 A4 pages per minute, duplex built in and the highest paper capacity in its class of upto 2180 sheets, the robust SCX-6345 N (Printer-Copier-Scanner-Fax) present a powerful one-stop multifunctional printing solution for today's demanding office needs. The estimated street price for SCX-6345N is Rs.1,29,990/-.
"In addition to growing our dedicated channel of printer stockists by around 25% this year, we also plan to tap new retail opportunities like Croma and Reliance retail for our printer business", states Mr. Sharma.
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