Worldwide market shows third consecutive quarter of growth in unit shipments and shipment value.
According to IDC, the worldwide large-format printer (LFP) market continued its growth in the first quarter of 2014 as it recorded a 7.4 percent increase in shipment units and a 3.4 percent increase in shipment value for the third consecutive quarter; with 81,500 units shipped.
The technical segment saw an increase of 9.3 percent year-over-year to 49,500 units, and took a 61 percent share of the overall LFP market during the quarter. All regional markets experienced growth in this segment, with four out of eight regions recording double-digit growth, including Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) which saw a 10.5 percent growth, Japan which grew 14.1 percent, Middle East and Africa (MEA) at 15.4 percent, and the US at 11.8 percent. The value of shipments in this segment also grew 1.4 percent to over $301 million (€221.6 million).
Meanwhile, the graphics application segment grew 4.6 percent year-over-year, reaching 32,000 units and holding a market share of 39 percent. Five out of the eight regions recorded unit growth in the segment, with Japan leading with a growth of 22.4 percent; followed by MEA and Canada at 18.7 percent and 12.8 percent respectively. In terms of shipment value, the segment saw a year-over-year growth of 5.3 percent to over $493 million (€363 million).
Looking at the leading vendors in the LFP market, HP has a clear lead with a 39.9 percent unit share, with the company growing 5.5 percent year-over-year to 32,500 units in 1Q14. In particular, the OEM continues to be strong in the technical segment as it recorded more than double the share of its next competitor, Canon; while HP is ranked number three in the graphics market behind Epson and Canon.
Canon climbed up on place to take the number two position in the overall LFP market, ranking second in both the CAD and graphics segments as it experienced double-digit unit growth year-over-year of 18.8 percent and 16.6 percent respectively. The company also saw significant year-over-year growth in its largest regional markets for technical and graphics printers, growing 22.5 percent in Western Europe in the technical segment and 30.3 percent in Japan in the graphics segment.
Less than one point behind Canon in unit shipment share is Epson, which is ranked at number three in the global LFP market with nearly 17,000 units shipped. The OEM grew 4.4 percent year-over-year to reach a 20 percent market share, and topped the graphic applications segment as it reach close to three times the share of the next vendor, Canon. Despite technical printers being a small part of the company’s LFP sales, shipments in this segment still grew by 7.4 percent compared to the previous year.
Holding fourth and fifth places in the LFP market are Roland, which has a 3.4 percent share, and Ricoh, which has a three percent share. Roland’s unit shipments grew 12.4 percent year-over-year and was strongest in the graphics segment, where it held fourth position and grew 4.1 percent. Ricoh meanwhile enjoyed a unit growth of four percent and holds fourth place in the technical segment, where it grew 3.8 percent.
Phuong Hang, Program Manager, Large Format Printer Trackers at IDC, also commented that “shipments of UV-curable inkjet devices have been growing steadily over the past three years and IDC expects this trend to continue at a similar pace over the next 3 years”.