Calcutta, April 10: Xerox India aims to double its 4.5 per cent market share in laser printers in calendar year 2006.

The company will also introduce 27 products, including printers, scanners and multi-function office equipment.

Xerox India recently introduced a laser printer at Rs 4,500 and plans to provide more such products at competitive prices for individuals and businesses, said Natesh Mani, executive director (new office group) of Xerox India.

“The new office group started with a 1 per cent market share in laser printers at the beginning of 2005. It stood at 4.5 per cent by the year-end,” said Mani.

The domestic laser printer market is about 300,000 units while that of the inkjet is double the size.

The company also plans to tap the replacement market as the life span of an inkjet printer is three to four years.

According to International Data Corporation, India has about 27,000 resellers, whom the IT companies target to sell their products.

“We also plan to double our reseller base from 1000 this year,” Mani said.

Of the 27 products that will be launched this year, six would be in the first quarter, about four to five in the second and the rest in the third.

There would be six new models of laser and colour printers each, three multi-function office equipment and three A3 printer versions. It will also offer new models in the scanner category.

The firm had a combined turnover of $104 million, of which the new office group contributed 70 per cent. Around 10 to 15 per cent of the office group’s turnover came from the eastern region.

“The existing volumes do not make it economically viable to set up a manufacturing or assembly unit in India and Xerox will continue sourcing products from the US, China, Brazil and Japan,” said Mani.

The company has a plant at Rampur in Uttar Pradesh that only makes analogue printers. Xerox has a market share of 28 per cent for digital printer/copier, 38 per cent for A3 and 8.5 per cent for multi-function A4 printers.