Technology provider Epson is wooing the business-to-business segment to boost growth in South-east Asia, top executives said yesterday.

The strategy would involve, for example, building up a rental market for projectors in settings such as seminars, as well as improving the printing speed and productivity of its inkjet machines.

Seiko Epson Corporation president Minoru Usui, whose firm leads the global Epson Group, said: "I believe the key is to focus on our core strengths and create new value for customers in ways that other companies cannot imitate. Our strength is in hardware and I am convinced excellent and highly focused hardware is just as important as software in advancing our technology."

He and other company leaders were speaking at the Capella Singapore hotel on Sentosa to mark the 35th anniversary of the Japan-based group's Singapore arm.

Mr Munenori Ando, general administrator of the sales and marketing division and president of Seiko's China unit, noted: "The consumer market, of course, for Epson, continues to be very, very important. But in the long run, we will be concentrating on the high-growth area, high-potential area in a range of business segments."

That strategy was demonstrated yesterday when Epson launched two types of augmented-reality smart glasses aimed at serving commercial and industrial customers.

One of them can be deployed in museums and similar environments to provide visitors with interactive experiences, while the other type of headset can be worn over safety helmets and used by workers in places like construction sites.

"Our new models will cater specifically to enterprise needs," said Mr Ando. These latest models in its Moverio line - already available in Britain, the United States and Japan - will be ready in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia by the end of this year.

The move to cater to businesses comes on the heels of the Epson 25 corporate vision announced in March last year, a growth plan that involves adopting new business models and developing new market segments. The firm recorded an 18.5 per cent drop in earnings to 15.1 billion yen (S$181 million) for the six months to Sept 30, compared with the same period a year earlier.