[Interview] Fujii, Head of Epson Korea, "Targeting 200 Billion KRW Sales This Year... Paper Recycling 'PaperLab' Debuts in October"

"Achieving 2025 Fiscal Year Revenue Targets Ahead of Schedule"
"Growth Based on Screen Golf and Media Art"

한국 Epson has announced its goal to achieve sales of 200 billion KRW this year, based on various businesses such as screen golf and media art. In October, it plans to introduce 'PaperLab,' a device that enables paper recycling within offices, to the domestic market to increase its customer base while also strengthening ESG (Environment, Social Responsibility, Governance) management.

Shigeo Fujii, CEO of Korea Epson, recently stated in an interview with Asia Economy, "We aim to advance the target of achieving 200 billion KRW in sales, originally set for the 2025 fiscal year, and accomplish it by 2024."

Shigeo Fujii, CEO of Epson Korea.
[Photo by Epson Korea]

Korea Epson recorded sales of 195 billion KRW for the 2023 fiscal year (April 2023 to March 2024), marking a 2.7% growth compared to the previous year (190.5 billion KRW). CEO Fujii explained, "Despite subdued consumer sentiment and economic recession issues after the endemic phase, the company has renewed its record-high performance for three consecutive years. We expect to achieve higher sales this year across all sectors compared to last year."

In fact, Korea Epson's share of global Epson's total sales is not large. CEO Fujii emphasized, "The Korean market accounts for 2% of global Epson, making it a small market. However, Epson headquarters considers each branch's sales proportional to population, so rather than focusing on sales share, they select investment targets based on the potential and impact of the Korean market."

A unique characteristic of the Korean market, as seen by Epson, is that it always considers the global market when developing its business. In particular, CEO Fujii is paying attention to the screen golf and media art markets. He noted, "The most unique market in Korea is the screen golf market, which is a strength of the Korean market as a fusion of entertainment and IT, and it has the peculiarity that only projectors can be used. Regarding digital media exhibitions, there are as many as five large museums in Jeju Island alone using 50 to 60 Epson projectors, which is a significant difference compared to other countries."

Nevertheless, the overall market outlook for Epson's core products, printers and projectors, is not bright. CEO Fujii expressed concern, saying, "Although Korea's economy showed strong exports in the first half, leading to an upward revision of GDP, when visiting customers on site, there is still no real sense that demand and investment have recovered. Customers are carefully selecting products considering various policies such as how to improve work efficiency, how much to reduce TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), and ESG management promoted by the government."

Shigeo Fujii, CEO of Epson Korea.
[Photo by Epson Korea]

However, CEO Fujii showed confidence that there could be opportunities for Korea Epson. He said, "Although the overall market situation is difficult, we believe it is a chance to highlight our company's strengths in environmentally friendly and work-efficient printers and projectors."

Korea Epson plans to continue its growth this year with a diverse product lineup, including its flagship large-capacity ink tank printers that apply Heat-Free technology, which reduces power consumption during document printing by up to 85%.

In particular, in October, it plans to introduce the paper recycling system 'PaperLab' to the Korean market. PaperLab is a recycling paper machine that produces new paper from waste paper for printing.

CEO Fujii explained, "PaperLab uses about one cup of water to maintain internal humidity, so there is no wastewater issue, reducing environmental burden. It can process used paper within companies and institutions, which is also advantageous for security issues. It can be an alternative in the paperless era." He added, "It is currently introduced in Japan and some European countries, with about 80 units delivered. We plan to start test marketing in Korea in October." Epson plans to target customers in Korea where security is important, such as government agencies and financial institutions.