The downturn is said to be due to a “deceleration in spending” by governments and businesses.
The report from IDC showed that the lack of spending by governments and “large enterprises” in the region led to a “significant” year-on-year decline in the third quarter of 34 percent in volume and 17.8 percent in value, and the analyst noted that “the postponement of many public and private sector tenders” in advance of elections in Tunisia have had a “particularly negative impact on proceedings in the region”.
Tunisia, along with Morocco and Algeria, make up the North African grouping, and IDC stated that all three “suffered considerable year-on-year declines”, with Tunisia seeing a 47.8 percent fall in shipments and a 13.2 percent fall in value, whilst Algeria saw a 40.6 percent decline in volume and 24.2 percent fall in value. Morocco in turn saw its market shrank 21.9 percent in shipment terms, and 14 percent in value.
Inkjet was “hardest-hit” in the region, with volume declines of 44.8 percent in Morocco, 42.1 percent in Algeria and 69.9 percent in Tunisia, which corresponded to value declines of 19.6, 42.6 and 50.1 percent respectively. Monochrome laser “fared slightly better” but results were “still negative right across the board”, with Algeria seeing volume and value declines of 49 percent and 50.7 percent, while Morocco and Tunisia saw shipment declines of 12.8 and 29.7 percent as well as value declines of 16.3 and 1.9 percent.
In more detail, the Algerian market’s decline in mono laser was “felt across almost all speed segments”, whilst the declines in Morocco and Tunisia were “felt primarily in the low-speed segments”. Colour laser meanwhile saw shipment increases overall of 6.3 percent – around 5,000 units – giving the market a value of $6 million (€4.8 million), a 19.5 percent increase year-over-year. Thisgrowth “was driven by a stellar performance across all speed segments” in Algeria, which saw growth of 47.9 percent in volume and 98.7 percent in value.
Despite these encouraging results in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia’s results were a “different story”, with shipment declines of 7.6 and 6.1 percent and revenue declines of 4.3 and 36.5 percent respectively. IDC stated the declines “stemmed mainly from downturns in the low- and mid-speed segments”, though serial dot matrix (SDM) volume and value grew in the region by 24.1 and 3.2 percent, and was “spurred by the signing of a few specific deals”, with the market “tender-driven”. Morocco saw shipment growth of 54.8 percent and Algeria 23.8 percent.
Imane Belhabes, Research Analyst for Imaging, Printing and Document Solutions at IDC North and Francophone Africa, commented: “The major driver of the inkjet segment’s downturn was a notable decline in entry-level shipments, particularly in Morocco and Tunisia. This can be explained by the fact that some vendors started to focus on more profitable market segments, which translated into strong growth rates for both the mid-rangeand high-end segments of the market.
“Meanwhile, the poor performance of the mono laser market came as a result of weak tender activity in the region, as government projects are the main source of demand for such devices, particularly at the lower end of the market.”