The Sharp Regional Solutions Summit brought together more than150 regional partners representingover 80 Middle Eastern, African and CIS markets. The world’s second largest manufacturer of Multi-Function Printers and Copiers, Sharp has lined up seven new models – five in mono and 2 in colour – to be launched during 2010.

Reviewing the past year, Mr. Yamaguchi said that the challenges brought by recession put the regional management team into an engagement mode, working closely with Sharp’s regional partners.“Capitalizing on the several challenges, the regional management team proved that dedication is the key to success,” said Mr. Yamaguchi. “Converting every challenge into an opportunity, we have managed to retain our market share in the region and also grow our business in key markets,” he continued.

In 2009, to take advantage of the market scenario, Sharp introduced 10 new models from both the Mono and Color segments which proved to be the winning formula.“Sharp’s full range of products not only won admiration in the market, but also bagged the prestigious BLI Line-up of the year 2009 award, for the second time in the past three years,” Yamaguchi added.

Talking about market trends, Yamaguchi said IT and Office managers were today putting the focus on operational efficiency, opting for products that offered the highest performance quality while offering greater operational and energy efficiency, eventually aiming for economized running costs.

As a leading manufacturer of Multi-Function Printers and Copiers, Sharp has set the benchmark in printing standards in the region and globally. Sharp has also been providing its technology as a global OEM business for many other known printer and copier brands as well.

“With more than four decades of excellence behind it, Sharp knows the pulse of the MFP industry”, said Mr. Ravinder Kumar, the deputy general manager for Sharp’s business solutions division. “The year ahead holds great potential and our strategy is to continue working very closely with our partners to understand their respective market needs. In addition, we pay close attention to our customer’s needs and newer models have been developed to fit our market’s needs.”

As rising operational costs are constantly driving office managers to focus on integration of technology into their enterprise resource planning, Sharp has launched an array of smart solutions that help integrate its printers into an organization’s operations and processes, thereby enhancing productivity and efficiency and resulting in substantial savings. Solutions like Sharp’s Open Systems Architecture software which help with Fleet Management and also help Manage Print Services (MPS).

“It is important for companies today to start thinking of Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), so that they can ensure that the cost of owning and running a solution over its entire life-cycle is paid attention to”, commented Bharat Bhusan Gupta, Product and Marketing Manager for MFPs in SMEF. “Purchase price is no longer a critical factor, especially as companies are trying to manage leaner offices and reduce their carbon footprint. This puts us at an advantage because not only do we offer a great deal, but also a product which is renowned for its environmental friendliness”, adds Bharat.

Being a technology-focused company, Sharp aims to continue to make available hi-tech and environmentally friendly products, including LCDs, Multifunction printers, Plasmacluster Ion Technology (Air purification), LED Lighting and Solar PV technology.