Epson America Inc. has unveiled two new A3 color inkjet multifunction printers for SMBs and corporate workgroups designed to print at dramatically higher speeds than competing products while consuming dramatically less power.
Both products utilize stationary line head technology rather than moving print heads to produce up to twice as many pages per minute as comparably priced devices from leading manufacturers, while achieving high levels of reliability as well, according to Elliot Williams, a product manager at Epson American, which is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif.
“How we believe we’re going to win is delivering high speed at a low cost with the print quality consistency that customers expect,” he says.
The new WorkForce Enterprise WF-C20590 prints up to 100 one-sided pages per minute and as many as 80 duplex pages per minute while consuming 50 percent less power than best-selling A3 color MFPs priced under $41,000, Epson says.
The device comes with 2,350 pages of standard capacity as well as an optional 3,000 sheet high input capacity unit and optional finisher for collating and stapling. Its high-yield ink cartridges can produce up to 100,000 black ISO pages or 50,000 color ones. Built-in Epson Open Platform technology enables businesses to integrate the printer with managed print solutions and popular web-based print and copier control applications such as PaperCut MF, from PaperCut Software International.
Significantly, users can plug the device into any standard 110-volt wall outlet as well. That’s one of several ways Epson believes its two latest printers disrupt a departmental printer market dominated by similarly priced models that print just 50 to 60 pages per minute and require high-voltage connections.
“This is our entry into that space with a product we think will compete very effectively,” Williams says.
The WorkForce Pro WF-C869R, also introduced today, generates as many as 24 color or black and white ISO pages a minute, and scans up to 25 images in the same time frame. The unit offers up 1,830 pages of capacity and auto duplexing as well, and utilizes Epson Open Platform technology to enable integration with third-party software.
The WorkForce Enterprise WF-C20590 will reach market this summer through Epson’s reseller channel, the company says. The WorkForce Pro WF-C869R will ship through authorized resellers this spring.
According to Williams, both products answer rising demand for inkjet printers among businesses of all sizes attracted to their simplicity, durability, and efficiency in relation to laser printers. Indeed, inkjet models account for 48 percent of office printer shipments today and will command 60 percent of that market by 2020, according to figures cited by Epson from analyst firm IDC.
“Now’s the right time for ink,” Williams says.
2017 has gotten off to a busy start for Epson, which introduced a new set of portable scanners and printers for mobile knowledge workers and new printers for point-of-sale solutions in January, and followed that up with another portable scanner and new laser projectors in February.
