In a presentation to leading journalists from across Asia, Seiko Epson Corp. Executive Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Toshio Kimura outlined SE07, the company’s business vision and strategy for growth for the next three years.

In SE07, Epson identified three imaging domains (3i strategy) – i1 (imaging on paper, the company’s printer products), i2 (imaging on screen, projectors) and i3 (imaging on glass, displays) – as what will drive the company’s growth in the period to 2007. Kimura said that by targetting the convergence of these imaging domains, Epson will be able to provide cutting-edge imaging solutions that create a symbiosis of still and moving images supporting richer communications and bringing color to the lives of people around the world.

He believes that by targetting the three fields of screen, glass and paper, Epson gains a competitive edge by providing everything one’s need for ‘viewing.’ Thus, it makes possible for Epson to expand into markets from any domains where it has a foothold, and enable the company to create products through the convergence of the technologies of each field.

Reporting a consolidated revenue of $13.37 billion as of March 2003, the Epson official expressed confidence that it will be in these key areas where they can generate the growth for the company.

In particular, Epson’s color imaging group to date amounts to an $8.7 billion market comprising of products such as its inkjet printers, all-in-one devices, large-format printers, projectors, etc.

"Our goal is to become the brand of choice in at these three market segments for imaging solutions. Therefore, we plan to focus our resources on these areas to sustain our competitiveness," Kimura said.

In his presentation, Mr. Kimura highlighted two breakthrough developments that form part of the SE07 strategy. The first of these was a prototype for the world’s largest OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display, that was created using Epson’s unique inkjet technology. OLED’s high contrast, wide viewing angel, and fast response times make lead many to believe that it will be the TV technology of the future.

Second, he also described the Epson Livingstation, an LCD (liquid crystal display) projection TV launched earlier in the year in the United States and Japan. Combining Epson’s unique 3LCD technology and a built-in printer, this product employs to enable users to enjoy both still and TV images in their living rooms at a very affordable price.

Meanwhile, Seiichi Hirano, Epson’s director and chief executive of imaging and information products division, said consumers can look forward to more state-of-the-art products from Epson for the living room in the coming years.

"With the global digital camera market growing rapidly, photo printing methods are going to change and transform the way of living. Last year only some 15 percent of the photos were printed at home. This is going to expand in the future," Hirano said.

Sales of digital cameras, he adds, are expected to reach 73 million units this year. Coupled with camera phones which are expected to hit the 160 million mark this year, the printing possibility has increased substantially.

Hirano believes that advances in technology will expand the usage of printers, freeing them from the constraints of being a personal computer (PC) peripheral device. He cited as an example the company’s Stylus inkjet printers which allows one to print photos directly from digital cameras, bypassing the need to use PCs. He said such features are now becoming ubiquitous in new generation printers.

Hirano also sees the possibility of printing from the mobile phone, digital camera and other devices, wherever the consumers may be, is becoming more and more prevalent.

Here, Hirano said, Epson will apply its digital photo link concept to support this move to improve home printing solutions. The concept, once implemented, will provide for seamless connectivity between various devices to Epson printers, high-quality photo printing anytime and simple and easy photo printing at home, shifting from the current PC-centred solutions to non-PC solutions.

Meanwhile, as part of its vision steering towards 2007, Seiko Epson Corp. Managing Director General Administrative Manager of the Corporate Research and Development Division Masao Akahane, provided a glimpse of the future on some of the company’s R&D efforts.

Focusing mainly on Epson’s i3 – imaging on glass – or display business, Akahane described how Epson plans to use its unique inkjet technology as a production method for displays.

Today’s market for large displays is changing rapidly, as consumers switch from rigid CRT type TVs to flat-panel TVs.

Akahane explained how Epson was already looking beyond flat-panel TVs by leveraging its core technologies to explore the possibilities of flexible displays – including e-paper.

"We believe that new technologies will improve the functionality and versatility of displays, thereby increasing the number of display applications in our daily lives," Akahane said.

He added that although it may take some years for Epson to turn its ideas into actual products, Akahane said the company possesses a number of core technologies that may one day make its dreams into a reality.

"Some of these technologies are Epson’s high-performance Si-TFTs, flexible electronics technology, the micro liquid process (a specially adapted form of inkjet printing), ultra-low cost digital memory and radio frequency technology for interfaces, which I believe all have high potential for use in the displays of the future," said Akahane.

The Epson official added that with many years of experience in the inkjet printer business, Epson already possesses a great deal of knowledge about the possibilities of inkjet. By combining this experience with its original Micro Piezo inkjet technology, this puts Epson in a unique position.

According to Akahane, unlike competitive inkjet systems that use heat, Epson’s Micro Piezo system fires its ink by applying a current to a piezo element, which oscillates precisely according to the strength of the current. "Not using heat greatly increases the type of substances that can be fired, a fact that has led Epson to experiment with a variety of materials such as the organic substances used to create OLED displays," he said.

In addition, Kenji Uchida, director and chief executive of Seiko Epson’s Visual Instruments Operations Division, presented Epson’s world leading 3LCD technology and discussed the technology that underpins Epson’s position in the market.

Based on its proprietary LCD technology, Epson has cemented a world-leading market share for its projectors. In addition, 3LCD has become the dominant technology for projectors, being employed in approximately 80% of the projectors in the world today.

Uchida, said Epson currently has 74 percent market share for its 3LCD panels and intends to go for more.

He claims that the advanced technology of the LCD panels offers brighter pictures, more natural, sharper-looking images, and are easier on the eyes and highly reliable as compared to the widely used single-panel colour sequential system. Thus, the 3LCD panels are much sought after for use in projectors for the business and home markets.

The home projector market, he adds, will grow very quickly from its current stage of infancy when consumers realize that it is more enjoyable to view bigger images on bigger screens.