Recent data from IDC found that “stable consumer demand” for inkjet helped sales grow in the second quarter.
iConnect007 reported on the analysis from market analyst IDC, which noted that “due to low demand from government and corporates”, the overall hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market in India “witnessed low numbers”, but conversely “consumer sentiments were good”, and “going forward this segment is expected to pick up in coming quarters with festive mood setting in in India”.
In inkjet, the market saw a 10.6 percent quarterly growth, while laser saw a decline of 14.5 percent in unit shipments despite a “good Q1”, with IDC blaming this on “low government and corporate buying”. Laser copiers meanwhile saw a “sequential dip” of 33.3 percent “but the market performed better than expected”; despite this, there was an 11.1 percent year-on-year growth, and the quarterly change was due to the first quarter “being higher than expected”.
On this note, IDC added that the second quarter is “usually a soft quarter for [the] copier market”, but noted that “it did perform well due to some deals in the government sector”. In terms of OEM performances, HP Inc held 43.1 percent shipment share in the whole market and leads the Indian printer market overall, with Canon growing to 21.2 percent of the market and seeing a “sequential growth” of 21.9 percent.
Epson also saw growth of 4.1 percent, for 20.9 percent market share, while Samsung pushed into fourth, “closely followed” by Brother “with just a marginal difference in market share”. In inkjet, both HP Inc and Epson saw quarterly growth, respectively of 8.8 and 2.6 percent, while Canon “bounced back” with a 42.3 percent quarter-on-quarter growth”. Conversely, Brother saw a quarterly decline in inkjet of 9.9 percent.
In laser, HP Inc “continued to be the market leader” with 55.8 percent market share, with Canon and Samsung second and third”, though HP Inc did see “a decline” in the quarter. Ricoh also “dropped to fifth position and lost share”; while in the copier market, Canon “picked up some deals” and held top spot with 25.9 percent market share, with Ricoh second with 23.3 percent and Konica Minolta and Sharp third and fourth.
The analysts added that “ever since the ink tanks have arrived, the inkjet market has been conquered by them. They are also being preferred over laser sometimes and [are] considered as a better option than an entry-level laser printer. The laser copier market is expected to do well in the coming quarters, due to the digitisation initiatives by the government originating the demand for copiers. Tier three and four cities are the next target areas for the print vendors. The MPS business is gaining momentum as the offering is able to attract the large enterprises”.
Manali De Bhaumik, Senior Market Analyst at IDC India, commented: “Q3 2016 would be the quarter where consumer segment would be targeted, vendors would do promotions and make use of the celebration season to offer discounts and gifts to consumers.”