Timothy Thomas, Epson South Africa’s country manager.

Epson plans to end the global sale and distribution of laser printers by 2026, and says it is fully committed to inkjet printing for the office.

The company says it made the decision because of “greater potential of inkjet to make meaningful advances in sustainability. This is due to the way the different technologies work - with laser requiring heat to fuse toner to a page where inkjet is a cold technology needing less energy to operate.”

The news comes a year after Epson announced its ¥100-billion investment into sustainable innovation and coincides with the launch of its new range of business inkjet MFPs.

Epson EMEA’s senior vice president Rob Clark says: “The decision to leave the laser market has been inevitable. As a company we’ve committed to sustainable innovation and action, and laser printers don’t fit within that. They consume more energy than business inkjets and use more consumable parts.

“Our printing business will instead focus 100% on piezo Heat-Free inkjet, leveraging our propriety technology to deliver efficient, sustainable print solutions for our partners and end users.”

The company references research by the IDC, which states that the business inkjet market in Western Europe is expected to grow at +5.1% per annum, contrasting with a -0.4% year-on-year decline in demand for laser printing.

Epson says it doesn’t have data for any other regions at this stage, but says growth in business inkjet shows similar trends for MEA and CEE.

“IDC research also suggests that 88% of hardware decision makers now consider energy consumption and waste (87%) to be ‘extremely’ or’ very’ important when selecting new printing devices,” Espon says.

It adds that this is a global announcement and its strategy for Africa is in line with its other markets.

Timothy Thomas, Epson South Africa’s country manager, says, “We have long been committed to heat-free Micro Piezo inkjet technology and have been clear that we believe it is the future for print in commercial, business, and domestic applications. Our corporate vision outlines four key priorities, one of which is working towards achieving sustainability goals in a circular economy. Exiting the laser market supports this goal.”

Epson’s regional leadership says while the announcement has only just been made, according to conversations it has had with partners and end-users, the development is expected to be largely welcomed.

“We will work with customers and partners in all regions to support the transition away from laser printers as best we can and will withdraw from the laser printer market carefully, supporting existing customers and partners as we transition fully to a more sustainable technology,” adds Thomas.