Now approaching 1,000 installs across Europe just three years after launching into the POD market with the Revoria PC1120, Fujifilm has officially launched four new mid-range models, the EC2100, EC2100S, SC285 and SC285S, to turn the firm from a challenger into a dominant force in the market.

“We’re now in a position at Fujifilm where we feel all of the obstacles and restrictions we encountered entering into the [POD] market are being removed, and we’re ready to make a real assault on the market,” Mark Lawn, Fujifilm’s head of POD in Europe, told Printweek.

“It’s been three years since we entered a very mature market. We didn’t have any partners, we didn’t have any installs, and we didn’t have much of an infrastructure or a partner network. But in those three years, we’re now approaching 1,000 installs. 

“Every single deal we won was new business – and new business is hard work. But clearly we’re doing something that customers recognise as positive.”

With nearly 1,000 installs in 26 European countries under its belt – including around 200 PC1120s – and a supplier base of more than 100 resellers and distributors across Europe, Fujifilm has targeted aggressively growth on the continent. It wants to double its installations by the end of its next financial year (March 2026) to around 2,000 engines.

And while it plans to expand its distributor network “signficantly beyond 100” in the coming months, the manufacturer is confident it can achieve this growth on the merit of its proprietary technology.

The new mid-range five-colour EC2100S and SC285S machines are key to this expansion, Lawn said.

“This new technology is really the last step to removing the obstacles to us entering the market in a really meaningful way,” he said.

“If you’re looking to expand through partners, when you talk to them about what they need, they need a full lineup.”

With around 200 Fujifilm-held patents – some 20 of them brand-new to the 100ppm EC2100 and 85ppm SC285 platforms – the new devices represent a significant technological step up – while also offering in their ‘S’ variants the option to add a fifth colour – for a lower price tag than printers might expect, according to Lawn.

“As a four-colour CMYK engine, the quality in this device is fantastic. The toner, combined with all the new technologies, delivers fantastic quality. But there’s no doubt that the headline will be grabbed by the fact that it’s a five-colour device,” he said.

“In the past, if you wanted to have the additional colour, it was quite a big investment. You had to have a certain volume of work, and typically that wouldn’t suit everyone.”

The new machines, however, will be on an “entirely new level of accessibility”, he said and offer a full range of finishing options and a choice between Fujifilm and Fiery DFEs

“We’re trying to make this product available to everybody. We’re allowing people to say ‘yes’. 

“If you were going out to buy a four-colour device tomorrow, you would give this serious consideration. We want every single buying decision across Europe to take this into account for consideration.”

The base EC2100 and SC285 CMYK machines are field-upgradable to the 'S' specification with the fifth toner station. The additional station enables European users to run either clear, pink, gold, silver or white toners - which printers can swap out in just 10 minutes.

“Everybody thinks of the additional colours as silver or gold, which – don’t get me wrong – are clearly impactful and can add value, but I think the ones that will really catch the imagination are colours like pink – which really expands your gamut. 

“All the colours that typically were an absolute nightmare in CMYK become absolutely possible.”

With the EC2100, SC285 and their five-colour ‘S’ variants in the market, Lawn was confident that Fujifilm will be able to make the leap from newcomer brand to printing favourite.

“Our coverage [across the segment] is now good enough to be involved in many, many more buying decisions than we have been before,” he added.

“For me on a personal level, it’s been such an exciting journey. These chances don’t come along very often.

“We don’t want to stand still. This is how we want to run the business – to keep pushing hard.”