Year-on-year growth recorded for second consecutive quarter, with total market increasing 3.6 percent in 3Q13.
According to IDC, the Western European hardcopy market is continuing to see signs of recovery, with a 3.6 percent in total market growth in 3Q13 resulting in the shipment of over 5.76 million units, compared with 5.56 million units a year ago.
Both ink and laser markets increased year-on-year by 2.6 percent and 6.5 percent respectively, with the general market outlook remaining positive for the rest of 2013 despite some pockets of decline recorded in some Western European countries, including France which declined 1.2 percent year-on-year as consumer inkjet markets continue to fall. The country did however see strong demand for simple monochrome printer products, with the A4 monochrome market seeing the most growth.
Total inkjet markets for the region increased 2.6 percent in 3Q13 compared to 3Q12, while business inkjet markets saw a 25.6 percent year-on-year growth. Positive growth was seen in many business and commercial markets in terms of laser products, which increased 6.5 percent. Monochrome markets meanwhile increased 7.5 percent and were double the size of colour laser markets, although these still saw a year-on-year increase of 4.5 percent but experienced a slight decline for printers.
In terms of specific countries, the UK showed the largest year-on-year percentage growth of the “Big 3” markets at 12.1 percent. In contrast to the other major countries in the region, the laser markets increased slightly in the UK while the inkjet markets demonstrated solid growth of 15 percent to become the second largest inkjet market. The country’s business inkjet markets almost doubled in size, with inkjet markets increasing by nearly 10 percent, indicating that the business inkjet market in the UK is one of the strongest in Europe.
Germany meanwhile also performed strongly, increasing by 8.9 percent year-on-year to 1.47 million units with both inkjet and laser markets increasing. Business inkjet showed the greatest year-on-year growth although consumer markets also showed “encouraging” signs, seeing growth of over 50,000 units. The only area to display decline in the laser markets was the A3 monochrome MFP market, although this was expected. A4 monochrome printers on the other hand accounted for 43 percent of all German laser shipments.
Commenting on the results, Arnaud Gagneux, Director of IDC’s Western European Imaging Printing and Document Solutions group, said: “We are seeing strong demand for document management solutions and managed services which is driving sales of smart devices, printers, or multifunctions [MFPs] that can communicate with a wider mobile infrastructure. Business inkjet is also becoming a profitable niche in the market with more products being made available.”
Meanwhile Phil Sargeant, Program Director of IDC’s Western European Imaging Hardware Devices and Document Solutions group, commented: “A second growth quarter clearly shows that market recovery is gaining momentum and the recent gains of CY2Q were not just a blip. Business and commercial markets continue to lead the way with positive growth, while consumer markets remain flat but at least haven’t declined further and have stabilised.”