Mitsubishi has opted to cease manufacturing its popular dye-sub printer ranges in both the photo and medical fields.
In a statement to UK website PhotoBite, a senior Mitsubishi Electric executive said: ‘Mitsubishi Electric will cease the production of printer products, this includes both photo and medical devices. Right now, we are focused on customer support and making sure that our loyal customer base is looked after.’
Mitsubishi will only supply existing orders, with final shipments ‘to be March 31 2022 at the latest.’
It assured current Mitsubishi printers owners that paper, ribbons and spare parts will continue to be available until 2030.
Mitsubishi was in the top two or three dye-sub printer suppliers in most markets in which it (previously) operated, competing in Australia with market leader DNP
It’s unclear what prompted Mitsubishi’s decision to withdraw from dye-sub after a 20-year history in the segment – particularly as the market for event photography is expected to bounce back after Covid. A recent study by Data Bridge Market Research claimed that the global mobile photo printer market is growing at a compound annual growth rate of 5.7 percent through to 2026.
It’s not clear whether Mitsubishi – one of the major global players in specialised papers – will continue to manufacture dye-sub paper for other manufacturers.
A leading printer supplier in the UK told Photobyte: ‘We’re anticipating a golden period for photo printing. Throughout the Covid crisis, people have been isolated and forced to live in an almost exclusively digital world. This has created a burgeoning appetite to socialise. People are itching to celebrate their freedom and the ability to experience physical, human interactions and events. This is very likely to translate into a greater appetite for physical, and not digital, artefacts such as photographs.’
From a technological point of view DNP seems to have moved ahead of Mitsubishi, with a larger range of printers, a range of surfaces including ‘Luxury Metallic’, higher resolution printing and a range of focussed options such as passport printers, photo booths and retail photo kiosks.
DNP distributor in Australia is JA Davey: https://dnpphoto.com.au
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