"We see the current economic slowdown as an opportunity to focus and provide customized products for specific segments."

On the current scenario of the MFD market

The market for MFDs has been growing in a spectacular way for the last few years and in spite of market slow down, there has been a good growth in this segment to the tune of close to 20 percent.

On the market and technology trends

MFDs are increasingly becoming feature rich, bringing greater value for customers.Epson has launched host of new MFDs with latest WiFi technology which is set to create a good impact.Also, Epson has customized key features specifically for the SMB segment.

On the growth drivers of the Indian MFD market

Government, education, and BFSI sectors have seen good growth this year. A major driver has been the government sector with massive CSC projects across India. The home user segment has been good as well where typically school students and home makers are the key users. BFSI vertical has also seen growth in the first half of the year.

On the impact of the slowdown on the market

We see the current economic slowdown as an opportunity to focus and provide customized products for specific segments.

The launch of Epson stylus office is a boon during this time as these products offer optimal solutions for the SMBs to reduce their CAPEX as well as helping control recurring expenses.

On the key challenges faced by the players in India

Though host of features are available in many of the products, customers often are drawn to an attractive pricing. In the process, customers often compromise on quality and functionality. A key challenge, therefore, would be to overcome this barrier and make channels sell products on customer need rather than on price alone.

On major policies or regulatory issues that are affecting the growth of the market

Issues pertaining to tax structures pose a major challenge to the growth of this market. Multiple tax structures and ambiguity in the interpretation across each state is one of the key issues faced by the industry. This, coupled with taxes like OCTROI in some of the states act as hurdles that affect the industry.

On the future of MFD market in India

Customers are looking for solutions that enable powerful business communications and improve decision making. The growth potential this year is immense, and with more feature rich products that boost productivity levels, we foresee more users adapting MFDs in coming days.