Mumbai: EPSON India has reported steady gains in its market share for the July-September quarter 2004. According to the latest IDC figures, Epson''s overall printer market share has gone up over the previous quarter by 7.5 percentage points to reach 22.8 per cent. The company recorded the highest growth among all vendors; of 58.7 per cent over the previous quarter. This means that Epson is the undisputed overall No 2 manufacturer in the printer market.

The gains have come in both the inkjet and the dot matrix printer segments. In the latter, Epson has moved into the No 1 position in terms of market share, with 38.5 per cent, an increase of 16 per cent over the same period last year and a massive 62 per cent higher than the previous quarter this year.

The company attributes the sales leap to its focus on the government and corporate sector, channel sales, the introduction of new models, end-user promotions and an increased retail presence, as well as penetration into up-country markets. The category itself grew by just 6 per cent over the same period last year.

Epson India Pvt Ltd is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Epson Singapore Pvt Ltd. Epson is the world''s leader in digital imaging solutions and printer manufacture. It markets and supports Epson inkjet printers, dot matrix printers, LCD multimedia projectors, scanners, POS systems and other high-technology products in India. World-wide, the Epson group is a network of 73,797 employees in 114 companies around the world, led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, with consolidated sales of 1,322 billion yen in fiscal 2002.