Overall decline in SA print market

THE OVERALL print market has declined since the first quarter of the 2016 financial year, with the total business operations sector showing a 14 percent year-on-year decline.

This is according to HP managing director David Rozzio, who added that the A3 printing portfolio showed a 10 percent year-on-year decrease and was a huge concern.

South Africa showed the biggest decline, which was 16 percent year-on-year.

In a move meant to resuscitate the industry HP today launches its latest range of A3 printers that focus on securing a business’s operations.

This range is spread across 16 base models with a range of technologies being represented.

Rozzio said customers were looking to managed print solutions (MPS) as they consolidated the numbers of smaller printers into larger more cost-effective solutions.

“In the office environment, we will see a decrease in smaller desktop printers as they will evolve into departmental printers.

“However, regulations will dictate that a hard copy is still required,” he said.

Asked where the technology innovation came from, Rozzio said: “Commercial and consumer worlds blending into millennial expectations and behaviours, mobility and security, everything-as-a-service and of course, blended reality.”

Grow its share

The company aimed to grow its share in the office environment and, according to Rozzio, HP was constantly reinventing itself in the market to reignite the consumer with a focus on mobile and affordability.

“As the printing and copier spaces collide, we have the opportunity to disrupt a massive market, currently dominated by copier companies.

“We’re reinventing printing with a truly differentiated portfolio that provides customers with low costs, easier serviceability, and the most secure printers in the industry.”

Cybercrime, internal breaches, compliance infringement and more can hurt a business. In addition to expensive fines and lawsuits, a security breach can result in a damaged reputation and loss of revenue.

Due to the growing sophistication and perseverance of cyber criminals, network firewalls are proving to be insufficient security measures.

Organisations need to fortify their endpoints behind the firewall, including network printers.

Asked if cybercrime would have an effect on demand Rozzio said: “We don’t see an uptake or less demand due to cyber attacks directly linked at this stage.

“Now we see a need for renewal of platforms to ensure latest security features are embedded.”

He said all devices connected to a network could be a threat and needed to be secured. – sizwe.dlamini@inl.co.za