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LED printers, which rely upon light-emitting diodes to generate printed text, used to undercut laser printers in price to earn their niche in the marketplace.
But that niche is pretty small, as the presence of LED printers in the market is clearly outweighed by laser printers.
Several firms that once made LED printers have only last year ended production.
"People will pay more money for better print quality," said Bob Fennell, director and principal analyst for Dataquest Inc., San Jose, Calif. However, "the cost of operation is not an issue unless you are doing significant volumes," Fennell said.
"The initial cost for the product themselves are on par for LED or laser," Fennell said. Despite fewer moving parts than laser printers and minimal consummables compared to ink jet, LED's overall market share is dwarfed by the 90-percent-plus share held by laser printers in the desktop market in 1994, he said. (Figures for 1995 are still being compiled at Dataquest.)
Laser dominates the printer market, and LED's niche is evaporating as the price differences disappear.
If there is any company pushing LED, it is Okidata, the market leader in this segment, Fennell said.
For Okidata, based in Mt. Laurel, N.J., the allure of LED is "fewer moving parts. We don't require rotating mirrors to move light around a drum," said Larry Reiher, manager for market development.
Okidata chose to stick with LED since it owned the technology for the printer...