The trend is due to “declining customer demand” and preference for “added functionality”.
IDC discussed the latest results from the Polish hardcopy peripherals market, noting that the lack of demand coupled with desire for more functions has meant there is a “gradual evolution” of the market, with 1.1 million units shipped in 2013 – a volume decline of around one percent year-on-year.
The value of the entire market however “bucked this trend”, and grew by one percent compared to the year before, which IDC says “suggest[s] a shift is underway to more expensive devices”. In terms of OEM share, HP continues to dominate the market with a 47 percent market share in terms of volume, whilst Brother and Canon came second and third with 15.3 percent and 14.5 percent respectively.
The analyst noted that Poland’s economy “is expected to develop at a faster rate over the coming years” due to the release of EU funding for 2014 to 2020, and that this will improve “export capabilities” as well as “growing domestic consumption”, which in turn will “drive the overall IT market’s growth, with the hardcopy peripherals market also benefitting”.
Przemek Kowalski, IDC Poland’s Senior Analyst for Imaging, Printing and Document Solutions, stated: “All segments of the Polish hardcopy peripherals market suffered a year-on-year decline in consumer spending during 2013. This was counterbalanced by an increase in shipments of more expensive devices aimed at business users, which helped propel the market’s value growth.
“Looking ahead, IDC expects to see further growth in demand in 2014, particularly for devices equipped with smart printing and cloud printing functionalities.”