CAIRO: “With our new product line for 2010, we expect our positive revenues and increased market share…to continue growing,” Bassem El-Halabi, corporate sales manager of Brother Gulf, said. Brother Gulf is the Middle East subsidiary of Brother Japan, which develops and manufactures printing, communication and digital imaging products for homes and offices. At this week's IDC IT Managers Forum, El-Halabi presented the PocketJet mobile printer, which — at just under 26cm long and 400g in weight — looks more like a laptop computer battery than a printer. The pocket-sized printer “uses thermal technology that requires only paper as input, differentiating it from our competitors who require inkjet cartridges,” El-Halabi added. Brother PocketJet can fit into your briefcase or computer bag, and can be mounted in any vehicle or small work area and connected to a laptop to print, he explained. Although El-Halabi pointed out that the product is project-oriented and is not available in the market for retail consumption, it is products like this, he said, that show how technology in their field can “blow your mind.” Speaking to Daily News Egypt on the sidelines of the forum, El-Halabi said that in quarter one of 2010, the “market share of our MFC [Multi-Function Centers] products increased 37 percent” in Saudi Arabia. The company markets its multifunction printers as Multi-Function Centers (MFCs). According to latest IDC research, the market for MFCs in the EMEA region is poised for a 12.2 percent growth by 2013, which highlights the need for new technologies for color laser MFCs and printer devices which combine printing, copying, scanning and faxing. At the IDC IT Managers Forum, which opened Tuesday, Brother's presented its new products and shed light on its expansion plans for Egypt, where it recently named a new distributor: Smart Technology Company (SMARTEC). “We have been expanding our market share in Qatar, UAE, and I'm sure with our new partner in Egypt who has good experience with the corporate, private and government sectors, our market share in Egypt will follow our successful trends.” El-Halabi said Brother's products are set to help companies in the midst of the economic downturn. This includes the new HL-5300 series printers for small and medium businesses (SMBs), which are designed to drive down printing costs and reduce energy use. Commenting on the importance of adopting MFCs among SMBs, Shinji Tada, managing director of Brother Gulf, said, “It is important for IT managers, most of whom are focusing on finding ways to cut down on their expenses, to look for holistic solutions that…reduce costs [and] ensure optimum quality. “Our products have been developed to help companies save as much as 30 percent on their imaging costs. The growing consumer awareness of the efficiency and advantages of utilizing an MFC rather than a single function printer in the Egypt[ian] market presents excellent prospects for us,” he added. El-Halabi also presented new leverage print management tools designed to further reduce costs; products that offer prints up to 600x2400 dpi resolution, adjustable, 250-sheet paper capacity, ethernet and high speed USB 2.0 interfaces and separate toner/drum sets. Efficiency, “green” energy and cost minimizing technologies will become more and more important in the sector, he said. Brother's three-year warranties reflect the reliability of their machines, he said, adding that “the probability of our machines breaking down is less than 1 percent.” The “total cost of ownership” of their products is also an asset, he said, with low running costs (including ink or toner refills) as well as service and support that make their prices competitive in the long run. “Some our MFC machines have PC fax systems…where you can send and receive faxes without ever printing them, saving energy and paper,” El-Halabi explained.
