Small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India are on track to spend US$330 million on printers this year, up by 19% over last year"s US$280 million. SMBs will account for up to 75% of the country"s total SMB printer expenditure this year, according to a recent study by New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners.

“The volume of documentation among SMBs has grown multi-fold - product brochures, marketing proposals, pamphlets, bills, advertisements, etc,” notes Somnath Das, analyst at AMI-Partners. “This acts as a significant driver; boosting SMB demand for printing and imaging. Easy availability of low-cost printers coupled with the adoption and usage of integrated printing solutions has resulted in significant cost savings to SMBs.”

According to the study, a small yet significant segment of SMBs focus on high-quality printing such as digital printing and PictBridge technology.

The study notes that Indian SBs show huge progress in terms of technology adoption. These SBs are gradually transitioning from basic infrastructure building up their communications and networking infrastructure. “Up to 40% of PC-owning SBs bought printers in 2006 - either to augment existing infrastructure or as first-time adopters,” states Das.

There is also a gradual shift from inkjets to colour laser printers and multi-functional devices (MFDs). The significant drop in price points in MFDs has led to a drop in the price differential between inkjets and lasers/MFDs, the study mentions.

Hewlett-Packard continues to lead the market in the Indian SMB printer space.