IDC revealed that shipments grew by 3.5 percent, and revenue only slightly declined by less than one percent.
The new statistics, from the analysts’ Worldwide Quarterly Large Format Printer Tracker, noted that “product mix changes and some very aggressive price promotions were responsible” for the slight fall in revenue from shipments, but that the growth of 3.5 percent over the previous year was “an important indicator” for the global market.
CAD (computer-aided design) and technical machines, as a global segment, continued to grow with a four percent increase, with inkjet machine shipment growth “more than offsetting the decline in toner-based wide-format printers”. Wide-format graphics printer shipments meanwhile grew by 2.1 percent in 2014, and “continued decline” in aqueous inkjet printers “was offset” by growth in latex, eco-solvent, dye-sublimation and UV-curable inkjet segments.
On an OEM basis, the top five “remain unchanged” from 2013, though “small changes in market share” occurred within segments. HP still leads with “strong performance[s] in the technical” and latex segments driving its 40.9 percent market share for the quarter and year; while Canon remains second with a 20 percent market share; before Epson in third with 19.3 percent share, the OEM “seeing growth in its new dye-sublimation and technical printers”.
Fourth and fifth were Roland and Ricoh with 3.4 and 2.6 percent share respectively, the former based on its “strength in the eco-solvent business” as well as its “growing presence” in UV-curable and dye-sublimation, and the latter thanks to its strength in the “toner-based market” and its “growing technical inkjet printers”.
All five make up more than 80 percent of shipments “but only two-thirds of revenue”, with IDC adding that HP, Canon and Epson dominate the aqueous segment, which “points to the maturity of the conventional aqueous graphics and solvent inkjet markets and the fragmented nature of the wide-format UV-curable inkjet segment”.
Phuong Hang, Programme Director for IDC’s Worldwide Large Format Printer Tracker, stated: “The fourth quarter is often the strongest quarter of the year for the wide format digital printer market in some segments and some geographies, particularly due to the aggressive promotion by major manufacturers and distributors.
“Shipment growth is an important indicator for the overall wide format market because even though hardware revenue declined slightly, the vast majority of the decline came from inkjet products, and with inkjet products a great deal of revenue is driven by the consumption of supplies.”