IDC’s latest figures show that the market’s overall decline is tempered by growth in the USA and Japan.
The report, from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Large Format Printer Tracker, stated that the market saw a year-over-year decline of -4.2 percent, with 73,000 units shipped in 2Q13, whilst shipment value declined -3.2 percent to $781 million (€584.4 million), but in contrast the US and Japanese markets saw year-on-year growth of five and 4.2 percent in terms of shipments, marking the first time since 4Q10 that two of the four largest markets have seen growth year-on-year.
The technical segment of the market saw a growth of 2.4 percent in terms of shipments, with 43,700 units shipped, and remains the largest area with over 60 percent share, up four percent from last year, with the Americas region showing growth of 17.8 percent alone. Graphics however declined -12 percent to under 29,000 units shipped, but in Japan this sector showed “historically high” year-over-year growth of 28 percent.
In terms of OEMs, HP continues to lead with 39.4 percent of the market, despite dropping two percent in the past year, and it also leads the technical market “with more than twice the unit shipments of its next competitor”, Canon, as well as holding second place in graphics after Epson. Canon jumped from third to second with 18.9 percent, up five percent, and grew 15.5 percent with 13,756 units shipped, thanks largely to 23.6 percent growth in the technical market.
Epson meanwhile fell to third place between quarters, declining -14.4 percent in shipments with an 18.6 percent share of the market, despite a huge growth of 102.6 percent in the technical market. The OEM also saw a decline of -24.1 percent in graphics, with 13,501 units shipped. Roland meanwhile overtook Oce in fourth place, with 12 percent growth in unit shipments and 3.8 percent share, with 12 percent growth in graphics, whilst Oce saw growth of -5.1 percent with a 3.6 percent share of the global market and a fall of 19.1 percent in graphics, despite a 17.8 percent growth in technical.
Phuong Hang, Programme Manager for Worldwide Large Format Printer Tracker at IDC, stated: “While the worldwide LFP market is mature, we do see pockets of growth opportunity that can be very lucrative in the eco-solvent based printers segment. We expect vendors to introduce new products soon to target these emerging markets.”
The Recycler reported yesterday on IDC’s latest findings on the global hardcopy market, which is showing signs of recovery, and also reported on the contraction of Western Europe’s wide-format market, though the region’s hardcopy markets began to return to growth.