Thoughts For The 2025 Participants In The Inkjet vs. Laser-based War!

by ray stasieczko January 05, 2025

As with most things in the print industry, the old way flights to hang on to its past glories. Over the last three years, I have shared thoughts regarding how Inkjet technology is gaining momentum. Most would attest I was the first to use the term Inkjet Revolution! A phrase to insight the industry's actors to get bolder in the war between Inkjet and Laser-based technology

The Inkjet Revolution will be won, and this reality will completely change the industry that provides print equipment to businesses worldwide. These changes will align with many of the current industry realities and those realities soon coming.

Let's discuss the Inkjet Players I see as having the greatest potential to be the first to shake up Laser-based technology in the office business printing segment.

RISO, every product they sell is Inkjet based. RISO has mastered the art of transactional printing. Suppose RISO decides to bring an MFP product based on its Inkjet technology to the office business printing segment of the industry. In that case, RISO would position itself as a significant disruptor.

RISO's most significant advantage is that RISO has zero interest in laser-based technology or the toner that feeds laser technology. That fact makes RISO extremely important in my visions of the coming future based on Inkjet. RISO, Putting MFP capabilities on the RISO engine would be so disruptive.

Before the folks who sell Laser, office color equipment start screaming, why that would never work. Stop and think about the number of color pages printed in business that are purely transactional instead of requiring a Photoshop image. RISO is in a great position to tighten their current skirmish lines in the battle of Inkjet vs. Laser.

Kyocera, another army in the Inkjet vs. laser war, has an excellent opportunity to expand its inkjet technology landscape. Kyocera is the only laser-based OEM that has decided to break the status quo of Laser-based production. Kyocera entered the production print space with Inkjet technology over the status quo of Laser-based.

When Kyocera kicked off the TASKalfa 15,000c, I was extremely excited because this kick-off was in-fact a disruption. Kyocera TASKalfa 15,000c clarified my vision of how disruptive Inkjet technologies would be to the office business print sector. Kyocera has since kicked off the new 55,000c.

Kyocera is looking towards the future without toner covering their spectacles. Kyocera must take even bolder steps and focus on wiping out their entire line of laser-based MFPs from their A4s through all their A3s with new inkjet technology.

As I have suggested before, Kyocera needs to start the process of eliminating all their laser MFPs by kicking off the TASKalfa Inkjet 150c and 150b and the TASKalfa Inkjet 15c and 15b.

Canon's manufacturing relationship with HP, especially in the SOHO space, increases the Canon Inkjet presence. However, within business print and light production, Canon is irrelevant regarding Inkjet.

Canon can't see past the toner business in the way Blockbuster couldn't see past the stores people went to get VHS Tapes and DVDs.

Like many laser-based mindsets, Canon is forgetting the most important thing regarding their customers: customers don't buy things. They buy outcomes.

Regarding business print, the outcome is information on paper. Laser-based equipment is just the means to achieve that outcome. The other essential component sellers of products forget is that buyers value experiences over relationships, in other words. The day the buyer realizes how much better the Inkjet experience is over the laser-based experience. The relationship based on Laser technology will be lost to the new competitor who delivers a better experience of Inkjet, and this lost customer will build a new relationship with your competitor.

Brother has a significant market share as HP/Canon in the SOHO marketplace. However, Brother missed a great opportunity. Brother could have disrupted the laser-based MFPs by introducing the Workhorse product based on Inkjet technology. Instead, Brother used a strategy to beat the other A4 laser-based OEMs with Brother Laser-based.

That strategy had some potential had Brother put a much bolder plan to wipe out a weaker brand buried in controversy. As I hoped they would have done regarding Lexmark. Unfortunately for Brother, now that Xerox decided to buy Lexmark, Brother missed a great opportunity to prove themselves as a worthy contender in the A4 laser battle.

Brother will not win against the other A4 laser-based manufacturers within the office business printing space. However, Brother does have an opportunity if they refocus on Inkjet technology and reinvent their Workhorse from Laser to Inkjet.

Brother needs boldness and a differentiator to have any hope of disrupting office business printing, and being another A4 laser-based MFP is not a differentiator, it's not bold. It's status quo.

Epson has been participating in the office printing space, but that participation seems to be a hobby; Epson has been pursuing the dealers within the office business printing segment for over a decade and has not accomplished anything close to a disruption.

EPSON is fighting a battle against laser-based technology without any vision of winning the war against laser-based technology. There does not seem to be any boldness in Epson's fight.

Retired sports stars are great spokespeople, but industry disruptors who win understand without the boldness to fight like hell to create a new way based on solid business plans, there's nothing your celebrity spokespeople can do to help you win. No more than a non-financial performing mega dealer who sponsors a sports hall of fame can miraculously save themselves from financial ruin.

Epson could actually be quite the contender if they could think past just playing and focus on winning and winning the Inkjet vs. laser-based MFP war will take a bolder mindset then that leading a hobby.

I also see Epson moving off the battlefield as they journey towards becoming a digital front-end for the print industry, both in business and industrial printing. We all witnessed EPSON in their acquisition of Fiery late last year.

I did an End Of The Day With Ray episode on EPSON's acquisition of Fiery within days of the acquisition. Since then, I have only become more assertive in thinking that EPSON is delusional in the belief that their competitive OEMs will welcome EPSON to be in control of their digital front end, let alone dealers being comfortable with an OEM being in control of the documents the dealers end-users run through a digital front end.

I classify EPSON's acquisition of Fiery as delusional and distracting to a greater EPSON opportunity in the war between Inkjet vs. Laser-based within the office business printing segment.

The Inkjet vs. Laser world being fought in the office business printing segment is not about color it's about all documents being printed in businesses.

Unfortunately, the Inkjet folks can't see past the glories in the revenues of color ink. Like other Inkjet folks, Epson must realize that the Inkjet's most significant disruption will be the Inkjet OEM, which manufactures a black-only MFP both A4 and A3 Lines along with their color MFPs. The OEM that does this first will dominate the office business printing segment's Inkjet disruption.

Remember, Documents printed with black text represent eighty times the volume of color text in business printing. That reality also benefits RISO, a widely recognized leader in Inkjet transactional printing and the RISO technology is also the most realistic regarding color needs on transactional documents.

RISO unquestionably has the lowest color output cost. Their low output cost aligns perfectly with the expectations requirements regarding transactional color output.

All the Inkjet OEMs who focus on winning the Inkjet vs. Laser-based war must accept that color business documents have never exceeded 20-25% of office business print volumes.

So, to repeat winning the Inkjet vs. laser-based war, OEMs will need a regiment of black-only MFPs along with the color.

When technological advances disrupt a marketplace, it's better to destroy yourself through reinvention toward a new relevance. Then, a competitor destroying your business to the point where the reinvention option is eliminated.

Some folks are too focused on the past glories of laser-based technology and its toner. These glories from past days will not proceed much longer as the industry travels towards continued relevance. I believe that relevance will be based on Inkjet technology.

Now some closing arguments for those fighting in the battles hoping to win the Inkjet vs. Laser-based War.

The industry's aging service technicians will cause the industry's service providers to deliver less service-intensive equipment. We all understand that Inkjet technology is most definitely less service-intensive.

The industry's end-users will continue seeking better experiences based on the realities caused by declining printing volumes in offices everywhere.

The industry's buyers are looking for less complicated equipment and supplies that can be easily purchased online, and everyone knows shipping ink is so much less complicated than toner bottles, drum units, and developer units.

Inkjet technology has changed so drastically over the last couple decades and, as widespread adoption takes hold, Inkjet technology will only improve more.

Those who believe Inkjet should accept its place in a world of laser-based leadership. Better be prepared to lose to the inkjet leadership, who wasn't fighting to win a battle or two but was fighting like hell to win the Inkjet vs. laser-based war.

Some thoughts for the Inkjet naysayers. Those who are comfortable telling the industry what they want to hear will read this article and say it's not about Inkjet or Laser that will keep the office printing business relevant, Ray.

Who remembers? It's not about A4 vs. A3, Ray! Said by those who couldn't stop thinking about the past glory days of over-selling and over-spec'ing A3. Those who focus on what is currently best for them instead of being focused on what's best for the end-user customers they sell and service will find themselves so disrupted their continuous existence becomes highly unlikely.

When I started the A4 Revolution, it was a war against the dysfunctions and out of alignment with realities in the processes involved in delivering A3. The A4 revolution was based on the reality where the industry was quickly heading. A reality now widely realized but still some struggle to accept.

The Inkjet revolution is also about technology aligning with the realities of all those who sell, supply, and service printing equipment in offices worldwide.

Nothing will stop the decline of printing documents in offices. However, ignoring the realities of the equipment that will provide the best experience to the end-user and continuing to deliver what's best for the OEMs or the dealers is a welcome sign to all your competitors who refuse to remain status quo.

"Status quo is the killer of all that will be invented."

Ray Stasieczko

Host of The YouTube series, The End Of The Day With Ray!

I welcome all to subscribe to my YouTube Channel

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