Garment Printing, New Trend In Malaysia

By Niam Seet Wei KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 (Bernama) -- Garment printing is poised to become a new trend in the country where customers can have their favourite designs printed on their T-shirts, socks or shoes. "Demand for the garment printing machines is quite good in Malaysia, especially for commercial usage, such as to customise printing on T-shirts or shoes for customers," said Brother International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Country Head/Director Itsuo Segawa. He said although garment printing was not new to Malaysians, the different and more advanced solutions, nowadays, prompted demand for the technology. "For those who want to have their photograph printed on T-shirts can opt for a higher quality but more expensive machine," he told Bernama recently. For the Malaysian market, Segawa said he anticipated a positive demand for the machines. "We expect more than a double-digit growth in revenue to be generated from this segment," he said. He disclosed that the company introduced the machines in the local market end-2015 and from April 2016 to date, six orders have been secured. "The number is quite admirable if compared with Malaysia's population (of 31.7 million)", he said, adding that the annual market potential for the machines were around 20 units. Segawa added that currently, a renowned Japanese fashion chain store was working with the company to provide garment printing service in Japan and Singapore. Established in Malaysia since 2000, Brother International is a Japanese multinational electronic and electrical company, majoring in print & imaging, labelling and sewing machines. Speaking of the company's online business, which began in January 2014, Segawa was optimistic that sales would increase between 10 and 20 per cent in five years. "Although online sales only constituted about one per cent of our total sales now, we will continue with the online business," he said. On sales in Malaysia, Segawa expressed confidence that the company would achieve a 10 per cent growth this year, despite challenging economic conditions. "Growth has moderated in recent years, not only due to the challenging economic condition but because end-users are selective in looking for something more multi-functional," he said. Nevertheless, he described the company's performance in the country as "not bad" compared with their performance in neighbouring Thailand. "Malaysia provides a stable business environment and has a lot of potential for growth but there is still room for improvement for value-added services," he added. --BERNAMA