At present, with the development and wide application of computer network technology, computer technology and network communication technology are entering the corners of human society at an alarming rate, which has deeply affected people's way of life, learning methods and working methods, human society. Has entered the network era. Network printing has been paid attention to and accepted by more and more users. This paper analyzes the development of existing network printing products and industries and conducts research on its market segments. On this basis, the development status and trend of the network printing equipment industry are obtained.
ID card machine paper
I. Introduction
With the popularity of the network, it can be seen everywhere in the business office. Modern network printing is not a local printing in the traditional sense, but an internet-based network printing. The printer is no longer a peripheral, but as a network. The contact exists, which is a high-end network printing. The network printer directly connects to the network adapter card through the eio slot, enabling high-speed printout at the speed of the network. The 21st century is an era in which office and life are about to be fully networked. Under this trend, network printing is receiving increasing attention from users.
Second, the status quo of the printer industry
Printers are important computer peripherals that produce about 20% of computer peripherals. China has become an important producer of printer products in the world. From January to December 2008, the cumulative output of printers nationwide was 42,346,909.00 units, an increase of 3.46% over the same period of the previous year. In January, printer production was the highest at 4,136,214.75; followed by December, with monthly printer production at 4,020,633.00, down 4.13% from the same period last year. From January to December 2009, the cumulative output of printers nationwide was 43,339,847.00 units, an increase of 0.58% over the same period of the previous year. In October, printer production was the highest, at 5,400,681.00 units, an increase of 58.74% over the same period of the previous year. Secondly, in September, the monthly printer output was 4,275,569.00 units, an increase of 11.28% over the same period of the previous year. In addition to the continuous improvement in technology, there is an important trend in the recent printing market. This is due to the sudden emergence of small and medium-sized enterprises. At present, the total number of domestic SMEs has exceeded 40 million, and this figure will be around 15% per year. The number will increase to 50 million in 2012, making it increasingly the main force for printer purchases. With the new changes in the business office foundation of SMEs and the increase in computer computing speed, the total amount of printing services for office users is rising, and the efficiency requirements are also constantly increasing. Therefore, the standards for purchasing printers have also undergone unprecedented changes. This includes the requirements for the expansion capabilities of the printer network, which has prompted relevant manufacturers to focus on sales demand and industry trends, and continue to promote the industry's progress and rapid market development, while providing consumers with better products. Also contribute to the future of the industry.
Third, the definition of network printing equipment
The so-called network printing refers to the printer is connected to the local area network or the Internet as a separate device through the print server, so that the printer can be detached from the peripheral position of the computer peripherals, making it an independent member of the network and becoming a peer-to-peer. Network nodes and information management and output terminals, other members can directly access the printer.
The two core components of network printing are management software and print server. Network print management software provides excellent management, which greatly reduces the time for managers to deal with printing-related problems in the network, and directly reduces the management cost of the enterprise network. Users can remotely browse various information of the printer, printer settings, toner cartridge usage, paper condition of each tray, etc. If the printing equipment supplies are exhausted, the user can order the consumables online, and the network peripheral management software can be used. Remotely control the printer. The user can directly install the printing device online via the Internet. If the printing device is in an abnormal working state or fails, the printing device will automatically alarm, and the user can directly diagnose the cause of the printing device failure through the network, and directly diagnose from the network. The printing device is faulty, however this is only part of the network print management capabilities.
Fourth, the status quo, characteristics and development prospects of the network printing equipment industry
(1) Overall status of the network printing equipment industry
In the past few years, China's network printing application environment is in the process of continuous maturity. In the initial stage, network printing is still new to most users, and most manufacturers are not very popular in promoting the product, so this product is still little known, so the network printing function, especially with this function The price of network printers always gives people an unattainable feeling. Since 2004, China's application environment has matured, and the maturity of users and the continuous application and solutions of manufacturers have led to the rapid development of network printing. First of all, the financial, telecommunications, government and other industries have always been the space for the increase in the popularity of network printing. In 2006, the financial industry was strong, the telecommunications were separated, and the government government was electronic. This series of changes brought more to network printing. More development space. In 2009, the comprehensive regulation and upgrade of information industrialization, under the pressure of demand for information security and other aspects, shared printing was completely eliminated, and network printing has become a standard. Second, the network has gained popularity in high-end industry users. Finally, the maturity of technology and the ever-expanding market space have led to a continuous decline in the price threshold for network printing, enabling it to slowly penetrate into small and medium-sized enterprises.
According to the different forms of network printing equipment, this industry is mainly divided into the following three areas:
Mainstream laser and inkjet network printers
Micro-needle and thermal printers
External print server field
The following is an analysis of the status quo, characteristics and development prospects of these three areas.
(2) Characteristics and development prospects of mainstream laser and inkjet network printers
In the fourth quarter of 2009, laser and inkjet printers dominated the market with 32% and 20.2% market share respectively. The leading manufacturers in this field are mainly international printer giants such as Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Canon. HP introduced its first network print server in 1991 and has since become the initiator of the network printing model. At present, all major printer manufacturers have network printer products, mainly high-end commercial color / black and white laser printers, and recently become a hot spot in the market, integrated with printing, scanning and faxing, laser / inkjet multi-function printing peripherals are also basic Both have network printing capabilities.
Because it is based on high-end commercial users, network printing in this area places special emphasis on performance (print speed and print quality), reliability, and manageability, so a high level of integration between the built-in network print server and the printer is required. Due to the scale value of this part of the market and the unparalleled technical advantages and technical barriers that printer manufacturers have on their own printer products, this area will remain a monopoly for international printer manufacturers.
(2) Characteristics and development prospects of micro-printer field
During the period of 2009-2011, the sales volume of China's micro-printer market maintained a steady growth trend. The compound growth rate of China's micro-printer market will exceed 20% in the next three years. It is expected that the sales volume of micro-printer market will reach 712,700 units in 2009, which is a year-on-year increase. The rate will reach 25.4%. It is estimated that the sales volume of micro-printer market will reach 902,100 units in 2010, and its year-on-year growth rate will reach 26.6%. In 2011, the sales volume of micro-printer market will reach 1,162,600 units, and its growth rate will reach 28.9%. . In the next few years, the segmentation trend of China's printer market is further highlighted, and customer demand is further personalized. With the continuous improvement of people's living needs and the acceleration of market segmentation, printer miniaturization has become a development trend, and the demand for micro-printers by industry users is growing. Compared with large-scale dot matrix printers, although the profit of micro-printers is also declining, the decline is not large, because its professionalism and the speciality that must be sold together with the solution determine that its profit is better than that of large-sized needles. Printers, even far beyond the market for laser printers and inkjet printers, have made it possible for micro-printers to have a significant replacement effect on large-scale dot matrix printers, and printer products have been upgraded faster.
In this field, because the overall market size is still limited, and the implementation environment is much more complicated than the office environment, it is difficult for micro-printer manufacturers to rely on their own strength to achieve effective cost control and achieve Customer satisfaction with the goal of reliability indicators, it is also difficult to provide customers with professional level of network technology services, so there will be printer manufacturers and professional network printing technology suppliers to jointly launch a micro-printer with professional network printing capabilities and special A professional network print server for micro printers.
(3) Industry characteristics and development prospects of external network print server
The external print server makes it easy to make the target printer easy to transition to the network printing application stage, thus making it possible for a low-end user's ordinary printer to achieve a truly networked print job. At present, the external network print server market has achieved good results. In this field, on the one hand, HP, Epson, Lexmark and other companies, with their years of experience in the network printing market, ported the excellent technology of the built-in print server to the external print server, on the other hand, it is an ideal fixed network. Professional printer server manufacturers such as d-link and edimax have firmly occupied the mainstream position of the external print server market after years of market cultivation. These vendors have deep network communication technology, so they can ensure the synchronization between external print servers and the latest network technologies. Take the ideal fixed network as an example, that is, there is a low-end product with a 10m network interface, and a print server with a 100m and wireless network interface that can connect a parallel port and a usb interface printing device, and its 1008mfp and 2008mfp adopt an advanced network usb. Bus technology, with the ability to be compatible with all USB interfaces, has achieved a high level of specialization.
In this field, network print servers are mainly aimed at low-end printers without network printing functions, special printing equipment for specific industries, and a large number of stock printers. First of all, this part of users is highly sensitive to price, making equipment manufacturers Must have a strong skill in cost control, and secondly, in the face of a large number of printer brands, models and printing protocols, external print servers must have good compatibility, again, in the face of complex application environments, manufacturers must Professional level technical service capabilities.
In these respects, there is no doubt that professional print service equipment manufacturers have an advantage. Therefore, this market will gradually be dominated by professional print server manufacturers.
in conclusion
With the continuous improvement and improvement of network printing technology, it can meet the increasing demands of users, and can help users to improve printing speed and quality, provide personalized printing satisfaction and reduce the overall cost of ownership. As the user knows, with the further advancement of information technology, whether it is an individual enterprise or an industry user's demand for network printing, it is imperative for users to choose network printing. The network is the living space for human beings in the future. The networking of office equipment is also the development trend of the industry. Cooperation based on complementary advantages will be the future direction.
