By Matthew Henry
SYDNEY: Kodak today unveiled its strategy to enter the consumer inkjet printer category through JB Hi-Fi with a new business model designed to slash the cost of printing by up to 50 per cent.
Kodak has launched its first consumer inkjet printer, the EasyShare 5300 all-in-one (RRP $299), which the brand claims represents a strategic move to gain a foothold in the local printer market by offering consumers significant savings for home printing.
“This is an extremely exciting time for Kodak as it marks our entry into a new market category,” said Kodak product manager – inkjet systems, David Santer.
“We have been in the printing business for more than 100 years. We have combined our consumer electronics expertise with our commercial inkjet printing legacy to design products for the home printing market.”
According to Kodak, the EasyShare 5300 has been under development for over two years offers a number of innovative features that will allow consumers to save up to 50 per cent on the cost of printing documents and Kodak lab-quality photos using premium, pigment-based inks.
Kodak has developed a new inkjet system which it claims will deliver superior efficiency for photo and document printing, allowing consumers to feel more comfortable printing at home.
Kodak claims research conducted by Galaxy in May 2007 shows that although 81 per cent of Australian families have a printer in their home, 77 per cent of them find the cost of ink to be expensive and therefore limit themselves and their children’s printing.
“For far too long Australian consumers have felt restrained from printing due to the high cost of ink,” said Santer.
“Our new inkjet system gives consumers the freedom to print documents and photos frequently, easily and affordably with exceptional quality that lasts a lifetime under typical home display conditions,” he said.
Kodak today released figures which it claims prove the printer will save consumers money.
“Independent testing conducted by Quality Logic reveals that consumers who spend A$5 on ink can on average, print 52 4×6-inch photos with the Kodak System, compared to only 18 4×6-inch photos for the leading consumer desktop all-in-one printers,” said Kodak in a statement.
“Consumers who spend A$5 on ink can produce 221 black text documents on the Kodak System, compared to 77 pages for leading competitors. This equates to under 10 cents of ink per 4×6-inch colour photo and 2.26 cents of ink per black-and-white page.”
The EasyShare 5300 printer features printing, scanning and copying capabilities and includes a high-resolution colour LCD display for easy viewing and editing that works with most memory cards.
The printer will be distributed through JB Hi-Fi’s 73 stores nationally from mid-September.