Technology
Written by Alma Anonas-Carpio / Correspondent
Wednesday, 18 March 2009 22:18

DESPITE the grim financial times, printer and projector manufacturer Epson Philippines did not scale down fiscal projections for the first quarter of 2009, Epson Philippines country manager Eduardo Bonoan said at a press briefing in Makati City yesterday.

Bonoan said the company has, in fact, “expanded [because] there is a demand for our products. We’ve seen our business pick up quite a bit; maybe it is efficiency; maybe it is quality; maybe it is the continuing investment we make in research and development [R&D] or a combination of all these factors.” Even in the large-format printing (LFP) space, where the equipment cost runs into the millions of pesos, Bonoan said, Epson “is thriving and we are selling well.”

“We have maintained our dominance in the market for single-function printers and have achieved leadership position with our multifunction printers and projectors,” Bonoan added. “We value innovation and we are constantly working, through R&D, to come out with quality products that give our customers the best quality and savings for their money. This may be one reason we have not had to scale our expectations back this quarter and are, in fact, still profitable.”

Meanwhile, local commercial printers and Epson clients Basic Graphics Inc., Printwell Inc. and Velprint Corp. took home the top honors at the recently conferred 2008 PIAP Print Excellence awards. The accolades for the Books Category (colored), Books Category (black and white), Brochures Category and Magazine Category all went to Velprint, while Printwell took home the awards for the Calendar and Folding Cartons categories while the honors for the Poster Category went to Cebu-based Basic Graphics Inc.

Velprint has been in the printing industry since 1979 and has earned recognition as one of the country’s best commercial printing houses. In fact, it is sought after by an international clientele set, mostly from Southeast Asia, with an annual sales volume of $2.5 million and ISO standard 12647-2-quality output. Its roster of clients includes the Asian Development Bank, Ayala Life, Globe Telecom, Nestlé Philippines and Philippine Airlines.

* Published in BusinessMirror newspaper