The region saw a decline in shipments of 4.6 percent in 2013, with a political crisis in Thailand said to be to blame.
Analysts IDC reported that the political turmoil in Thailand has affected the entire Asia-Pacific consumables market, with a 2.4 percent quarterly drop in addition to the 4.6 percent yearly drop in 2013. The market’s value reached $1.65 billion (€1.19 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2013 as a result.
The company noted that though the consumables market saw growth in China, South Korea and Indonesia, “seasonal factors” have affected the Australian market and others, though the political crisis in Thailand was the “biggest shock”, with channels affected as well as consumer business “sentiments”, and the market posting a strong quarterly decline of 30 percent and a yearly decline of 20 percent.
In terms of a market breakdown for the Asia-Pacific, third-party brands (including remanufactured cartridges and compatibles) contributed around $370 million (€267.1 million), or 22 percent, of the total market value. IDC added that “while OEMs are gaining market share” in the inkjet cartridge market “because of economic and high-yield” cartridges, third-party vendors are “gaining share” in laser, and are “expanding their presence” as well as “looking for expansion”.
The analyst added that whilst OEMs are “gearing up” to try and dominate the laser market, especially by extending MPS programmes, “there is still [a] considerable price gap between OEM toner cartridge[s] and third-party toner cartridge[s]”, and in a “value-sensitive” market, third-party companies are “favourite among consumers as well as commercial enterprises”.
Pankaj Chawla, IDC’s Research Manager for IPDS Research, commented: “Third-party vendors are now changing their business model and emerging as solution providers rather than merely box-pushers. Third-party vendors are offering free printers, printers on rent, printers’ maintenance and repair services along with printer cartridges.
“Third-party vendors are also entering in [the] BPS/MPS (Basic Managed Print Services) business and offering solutions like pay-per-page, pay-per-cartridge and volume commitment options. Some other third-party vendors are scaling up their business model by partnering with software vendors and offering remote operating of printers through MPS.”