Epson Earning Declines despite Price Hike

Epson has reported its third fiscal quarter revenue which ends in December 2012, showing decline in virtually every segment of the company.

Third-quarter net sales for Epson are recorded as ¥624,152 million ($7,208,962 thousand), down 6.1% year over year. Net loss is ¥12,612 million ($145,668 thousand), which falls from net income of ¥399 million in the same period last year. Epson mainly blames the result on the slow economy worldwide and unfavorable yen currency rate.

Printer business on a whole also sees decline.

Net sales for inkjet printer hardware have climbed up with the expansion of high-capacity ink tank units. Price hike in the printers also contributes to the boost. However, profit of the whole segment was dragged down by the bleak consumable sales.

For large format printer (LFP) segment, Epson says its high-end products have boosted average selling prices of the devices and consumables. But the revenue of this segment still declines affected by foreign exchange and contracting print volume.

In terms of different regions, Inkjet printer demand experienced decrease in North America and Europe. It also trended downward somewhat in Japan at the end of the third quarter despite continued economic growth. Large-format inkjet printer shipments were slowed down by the bleak economic environment, while demand was seen decelerating in the once firm Asian markets, especially in China.