Both inkjet and laser sectors declined in the fourth quarter of 2016.
Market analysts IDC reported on the market’s performance in 4Q2016, noting that “demonetisation impacted demand […] resulting in decline in both inkjet and laser market”, with the entire market falling 18.4 percent with 737,475 units shipped. The demonetisation affected “consumer purchase[s]”, while “deals from government and corporates were also put on hold”, and so “the overall HCP market witnessed low numbers”.
Despite this, IDC added that “the consumer sentiment remains good and going forward the demand is expected to pick up in coming quarters with [the] impact of demonetisation subsiding in India”. The inkjet market’s demand “was impacted by demonetisation”, with a “sequential decline” of 24.6 percent quarter-to-quarter, though Epson saw year-over-year growth of 26.8 percent as “all other vendors suffered” yearly and quarterly declines.
The laser printer market fell 11.6 percent quarter-to-quarter in unit shipments “after a good Q3”, though “the market was soft” in the second quarter “due to low government and corporate deals”. HP Inc meanwhile “continued to be the market leader” with 55.7 percent share, followed by Canon and Samsung, though HP Inc “witnessed a decline this quarter”, while Ricoh “dropped to fifth position and lost share”.
In the laser copier market, there was a “sequential dip” of 16.1 percent, with the fourth quarter “soft due to demonetisation affecting the jobbers segment and low government spending”. Canon remained in first place with 27.4 percent market share, even though it saw a 12.6 percent quarterly fall in shipments, while Konica Minolta held second place with 23.1 percent share, followed by Ricoh and Kyocera.
In the overall market, HP Inc achieved 44.1 percent shipment share to lead the OEMs, while Epson “has overtaken Canon” with 23.4 percent share, and Canon itself “lost further ground” with a 1.9 percent quarterly decline and a share of 18.1 percent. Samsung “emerged into” fourth position with 4.6 percent share of the whole market, while Brother came in fifth with 2.9 percent share.
The analysts forecast that in future, the “inkjet market is expected to be dominated by ink tank printers as vendors push their printers with aggressive marketing campaigns”. Nishant Bansal, Research Manager Imaging for Printing and Document Solutions at IDC India, commented: “With consumer[s] also opting for ink tanks and their preference over entry level lasers, inkjets are likely to continue on the growth path and dominate the market in the coming quarters.
“[The] laser copier market is also 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 have been doing well and are expected to drive the growth in the coming quarters.”
Manali De Bhaumik, Senior Market Analyst at IDC India, commented: “Q4 2016 had a major impact on the market due to demonetisation, but Q1 2017 is likely to bring good news. The market is expected to see growth with government and corporate deals coming in as well as [the] demonetisation impact subsiding, which would result in rising consumer demand.”