Printer maker Epson India has reported a surge in sales during the second quarter of FY21, triggered by high demand for its EcoTank printers from work-from-home (WFH) and e-learning consumers, said a senior official.“After witnessing a decline in the first quarter sales due to COVID-19 and stoppage of billing from March 15, we are seeing fast recovery,” said Siva Kumar, senior general manager, inkjet printers, Epson India said in an interview. “The demand is coming from WFH consumers and e-learning segments,” he said. “In the April to June quarter, we sold 53% of last year’s volume, while it rose to almost 90% in the second quarter. The recovery in the second half will be greater than last year due to continued demand and stabilisation of supply chain,” he said. According to him, home consumers preferred high-capacity ink-tank inkjet printers (now known as EcoTank printers) due to high yields and low cost.Besides, parents purchased printers to reduce their children’s on-screen time on monitors. The entry pricerate of a multi-function inkjet printer is ₹10,000. A monochrome print costs seven paise per page against 12 paise for a colour page.He said even government offices had started eyeing inkjet printers since July as they found it difficult to get refills for ink cartridges during the lockdown period and to reduce emissions.The overall market size for inkjet printers in India for FY19 stood at 1.75 million, of which the share of home and office segments was 40% and 60% respectively.Epson India led the inkjet printers with a market share of 46.07%, he said. It expects to post double-digit growth. The company reported a turnover of ₹1,896 crore for FY18 and ₹1,734 crore for FY19.
