Brother Gulf gears up to tap growing market demand for Multi-Function Devices

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In a bid to capitalise on the growing demand for Multi-Function Devices in the Middle East, Brother Gulf, a global leader in the development and manufacturing of printing, communication and digital imaging products for homes, SOHOs and enterprises, and a subsidiary of Brother Group, Japan, announced today (Thursday, August 3, 2006), the Middle East launch of its new series of Laser Flatbed Multi-Function Centers (MFCs) at a press conference held at Shangri-La Hotel, Dubai.

Speaking at the press conference, Toyomi Ido, President, Brother International Corporation, Japan, said, “The rapidly evolving business environment in the Middle East has seen significant changes taking place in business practices across the corporate sector, keeping pace with the technological innovations. One area that has definitely seen a growing trend in the recent years is office printing, where there has been a notable shift from single function devices to machines that offer multi-function capabilities.”

“Brother Gulf has done exceedingly well in the recent years in maximising the availability of Brother products in the regional markets and enhancing the company’s brand image. Brother International Corporation on its part has been providing all the required support and assistance to Brother Gulf to help it achieve its corporate goals,” he added.

Yoshihisa Tsuji, Managing Director, Brother Gulf, said, “Multi-Function Centers present a host of benefits to users especially in the small office home office segment, such as cost effectiveness, better space utilisation and greater practicality of use since it allows printing, scanning, copying and faxing from one machine. Our latest range of MFCs with several unique features is designed to deliver unmatched quality of output and thereby maximise customer satisfaction,” he added.

The Brother MFC-8460N and MFC-8860DN are the latest Mono Laser Flatbed MFCs added to Brother’s range of Laser MFCs and faxes. The MFC-8460N and 8860DN are equipped with 28ppm/ 30ppm print speed for A4 and letter sized documents, with a print resolution of up to true 1200x1200dpi.

The network-ready MFC 8860DN combines performance, connectivity and reliability, and is a powerful 5-in-1 monochrome workhorse that offers laser printing, faxing, copying, colour scanning and monochrome PC faxing. This is the first Brother MFC that comes with a unique Duplex Automatic Document Feeder (DADF) capable of double-sided faxing, copying and scanning.

Fax communications are also swift and easy with the 8860DN, through its 33.6K bps fax modem that transmits in as little as 2 seconds per page and with its features such as speed dialing and out-of-paper reception to store more incoming faxes. Despite its monochrome laser technology, the machine is able to scan in full colour and also has the additional advantage of the ‘scan to’ function that makes it possible to scan images to JPEG or PDF files, to email applications or to an FTP server.

The MFC-8460N offers all features of the 8860DN, except the Duplex Automatic Document Feeder function. The MFC-8460N offers the same printing speed and resolution of the 8860DN and also comes with the cost-saving separate toner and drum technology. Brother has incorporated several important features to the MFC-8460N that were not present in its predecessor model MFC-8440, such as enhanced print speed, higher resolution and improved toner and drum yield.

“A recent IDC study that shows that the demand for Laser Multi-Function Products in the Middle East is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of around 40 per cent between 2004 and 2006 has further reinforced Brother Gulf’s strategy to capitalise on the growing demand for high quality MFCs in the region. We expect the demand for Brother’s MFCs to grow by 40 per cent by the end of 2006. All our previous models of MFCs have been extremely popular among customers, which gives us every reason to believe that our new range will be an overwhelming success,” said Tsuji.

Brother’s products have won numerous prestigious awards and recognitions in the recent past, including the Readers Digest Super Brands Award 2005 Singapore; ‘Best Buy’ Award from PC Magazine Singapore in May 2005; ‘Five Star’ rating from Netguide Australia in March 2005; ‘Five Star’ rating from Editor’s Choice Windows Magazine, UAE in March 2005; ‘Best Value’ Award from Windows Magazine, UAE in June 2006 and Editor’s Choice Windows Magazine, UAE in July 2006 among others.

“Looking ahead, we expect to maintain the impressive pace of growth that we achieved in the first half of this year and we will continue with our relentless focus on customer service as we align our business goals with the Global Vision 21 of Brother Group,” concluded Tsuji.

Since its establishment in 1991, Brother Gulf has been delivering best-of-breed products to customers across the Middle East region. While Laser Printers, Facsimile machines and Multi-Function Centers (MFCs) form the mainstay products of Brother, the company’s product range also includes Labelling machines, Electronic Typewriters, Laminators, Stamp Creators, Home and Industrial Sewing machines, Industrial Embroidery machines and Machine Tools.

© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)