IDC reports drop in hardcopy market of 14.5 percent in 1Q13 as European economy fails to improve.
The overall hardcopy market fell in the first quarter of the year to just over five million units, compared to 5.8 million units a year ago, with market value also declining by 9.5 percent to $2.6 billion (€2 billion) compared to $2.9 billion (€2.2 billion) in 1Q12.
IDC attributes intense competition and sluggish markets as the reasons for the decline, while Arnaud Gagneux, Director of IDC’s Western European Imaging Hardware Devices and Document Solutions Group, added that the decline in shipments “reflect[s] the lack of improvement in the economic fortunes in Europe” which has led to businesses cutting costs in their operations and turning to MPS and document solutions to improve efficiencies.
Phil Sargeant, Program Director of IDC’s Western European Imaging Hardware Devices and Document Solutions Group, noted that “consumer markets are particularly hard hit. Consumer confidence is low, unemployment is high, economies are fragile and suppliers are battling with other consumer IT vendors for share of consumer spend”. He added that despite shipment of laser devices increasing in some countries, “growth rates are small when considering the declines of the previous year”.
In terms of vendor performance, HP remained the market leader with 35.9 percent of all shipments, despite year-on-year decline; followed by Canon which increased its sales to reach a market share of 18 percent. Brother also saw year-on-year increases for its major technology areas with a market share of 12.6 percent; while Epson captured 12.1 percent and followed by Samsung’s 8.7 percent.
While total inkjet markets contracted by 20.5 percent year-on-year, mainly in the consumer market, the A3 inkjet MFP market showed growth. Similarly, the A3 colour MFP markets and A4 monochrome MFP markets saw growth despite the overall decline of the laser market, suggesting that businesses are turning to MFPs.
Looking at how different countries fared, Germany, France and the UK accounted for 59.2 percent of all Western European shipments, although this is slightly lower than it was a year ago. The German market declined by 14.8 percent, with consumer markets declining by a quarter and laser markets remaining flat. However, the country’s colour laser market increased by 2.6 percent and the growth of A3 inkjet products increased by almost a quarter, with Germany accounting for 35.6 percent of all Western European A3 inkjet shipments.
In France, the market declined less that the overall Western European average, dropping 11.3 percent, with both consumer and business markets showing losses. Again, A3 MFP inkjet shipments increased despite the overall inkjet market declining 13.8 percent, while the laser market fell by 5.2 percent.
Of the ‘Big Three’ countries, the UK saw the largest decline, with sales falling 23.1 percent and the consumer inkjet market seeing the largest declines so that shipments were on par with France. Contrary to Germany and France, the UK also saw A3 inkjet shipments decline. However, the laser markets grew by 2.9 percent, with increase in colour A3 markets and both A4 monochrome printers and MFPs, but declines in colour A4 shipments.