In their latest bout of innovation, Samsung has decided to tackle the design of the home-office printer. With an aim of simplifying the manufacturing process and lowering costs for consumers, Samsung has unveiled a range of unusual printer designs, the most interesting of which is perhaps the Origami.
The latter features two pieces of corrugated cardboard that are folded into a box-like shape, which is then used to house a compact printer core. The idea is that this printer housing can be recycled once the printer has run its course, reducing waste material after it has been thrown away. The remarkably cool design is also fire and water resistant, according to Samsung, which should help improve the printer's durability.
Another one of Samsung's innovative designs is called Clip, a printer shell similar to the Origami design, albeit made of plastic instead of cardboard. Folded and clipped together from a single piece of compressed polyethylene, the Clip design is more sturdy than the Origami design, and should provide similar cost savings to consumers thanks to lower construction times.
The final design is the Mate, which focuses more on customizability than cost savings. It features a pre-constructed printer with several colorful, removable exterior panels that can be swapped and replaced, the idea here being you can fit the color scheme of the printer to the colors in the room.
All the designs are currently still in the prototype phase, although the Clip is perhaps the closest to reaching store shelves. Senior Samsung designer Juehyun Jung says there's "no barrier for production" of the Clip after a "few engineering problems are solved", and that the unit could potentially cost 10% less than other similar products.