Xaar has opened an office in India, the first by an industrial inkjet printhead manufacturer on the Indian subcontinent. The office is located in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi.
The company says it sees a number of similarities in the Indian inkjet market to that of China just a few years ago. Like China, India has a rapidly growing economy, and is an emerging market for the print sector in general and inkjet technology in particular. Xaar reports that a number of its current customers are already exporting wide-format printers into the region, and that there is a significant growth in local demand for Xaar-based products.
“The opening of our new Indian office represents what Xaar sees as a vibrant future for inkjet in the region,” says Ian Dinwoodie, Xaar CEO. “There are nearly a quarter of a million conventional printing presses in India, 70 percent of which are operated by small family-owned businesses. These small and medium-sized enterprises are also purchasers of both wide-format and other forms of digital printers. With the value of output in the printing industry exceeding $6 billion and the specialist-graphics, billboards, packaging sectors a combined value of $2.3 billion, it's clear there is a tremendous amount of potential.”
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Dinwoodie says that the new office will enable Xaar to work closely with its growing customer base in the region: “?Integrators and manufacturers need to be able to call on support immediately and in their own language and time zone. It has always been Xaar's belief that the most effective way to win and maintain a large proportion of the emerging printhead market, such as that in India, will only be achieved by working in close partnership with local manufacturers.” (Xaar: www.xaar.co.uk)