Epson will no longer sell and distribute laser printer hardware by 2026, according to a news release from the company regarding its commitment toward heat-free inkjet technology and how it’ll be investing billions in developing sustainable technologies:
Epson has reaffirmed its significant commitment to Heat-Free inkjet technology and to developing sustainable technologies, backed up by a previously announced ¥100 billion investment over ten years. The move also coincides with the beginning of the rollout of Epson’s new range of business inkjet multi-function printers (MFPs) and by the company announcing it will end the sale and distribution of laser printer hardware in its last remaining Asian and European markets by 2026. Explaining these decisions, the company cites the greater potential of inkjet to make meaningful advances in sustainability. Epson will continue to support customers by supplying consumables and repair parts after it ceases sales of laser printer hardware.
“We’ve long been committed to sustainable inkjet technology and have now decided to phase out sales of laser printer hardware,” said Koichi Kubota, general administrative manager of Epson’s Sales & Marketing Division. “As a company we’re totally committed to sustainable innovation and action, and inkjets simply use less energy and fewer consumable parts. While laser printers work by heating and fusing toner to a page, Epson’s Heat-Free inkjet technology consumes less electricity by using mechanical energy to fire ink onto the page.”
“Our printing business will from now put the focus on inkjet, leveraging our propriety technology to deliver efficient, sustainable print solutions for our partners and end users.”
Epson has been touting the benefits of inkjet over the past few years, with one blog post from 2019 claiming that inkjets consume much less energy than similar-speed laser printers:
As Epson’s inkjet printers do not use heat in the printing process, they consume far less power than laser printers. Epson’s inkjet printers consumes up to 85% less energy than a similar-speed laser printer which means for a typical office that requires frequent printing, this can amount to distinct savings in their annual energy bills.
Epson also mentioned at the time that inkjets produce up to 85% less carbon dioxide than those of comparable laser printers.