Samsung aims printers at the enterprise, kills OEM
Samsung launched its first range of business printers on Friday and said it will phase out its OEM deals in the long term.
Samsung claims the CLX-3170 is the world's smallest colour laser MFP.
Samsung manufactures approximately 10 million printers annually for both the consumer and enterprise market; however, most of these printers were sold through Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) agreements — where other vendors re-brand its products as their own.
Speaking at an event in Bali on Friday, Park Sang Jin, Samsung's CEO for South East Asia and Oceania, said the OEM phase out was part of Samsung's long-term brand strategy: "Step by step, because our priority is placed on our own brand, we will phase out OEM manufacturing."
When asked when the phase-out will be complete, Sang Jin declined to give a time frame.
In the long term, Sang Jin also said that Samsung would move beyond manufacturing and into print services: "Our core competence is components ... from there we want to expand our business".
Samsung is a big player in microchips and digital televisions, which according to research firm IDC, are worth US$60 billion and US$100 billion respectively. The market for printers is worth US$132 billion — of which Samsung currently owns around 12 percent.
Printer product launch bonanza
Samsung on Friday announced a full range of laser printers and printer-related products. The company's senior vice-president of digital media Jang Jae Lee said that the inkjet market was of no interest because it represented "less than 30 percent of the market".
The CLX-8380ND is an example of Samsung's enterprise-level multifunction printers.
Samsung's range includes what the company describes as the world's smallest and quietest colour laser multifunction printer, the CLX-3170, and "one of the world's fastest" multifunction A4 printers, the MultiXpress 6555N.
Samsung also touted its "green strategy", which involved making energy efficiency part of the design process. The company was keen to share news that it topped the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics for March 2008. The guide noted that Samsung "scores well on toxic chemicals policy, [but] loses points for incomplete take-back practice".
To back up its push into the enterprise market, Samsung has partnered with Microsoft, IBM and EMC to produce a range of software options for enterprise customers. These included integration with Microsoft SharePoint and the ability to embed Java applications within enterprise level printers using a technology called JScribe.
Alex Serpo travelled to Bali as a guest of Samsung.