Latest data from IDC reveals that the Asia Pacific region has surpassed the USA as the top shipment market for inkjet printers in Q2 2017.
The latest IDC Asia Pacific Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker has revealed that “the total hardcopy peripherals shipment in2017Q2 for the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan (APeJ) was 7.84 million units”, which means that this market has for the first time surpassed the USA “to become the number one inkjet market in the world in terms of shipment volume”. Both inkjet and laser unit shipments expanded by 2.2 percent and 4.9 percent year-on-year respectively.
The IDC data revealed that “PRC was a strong contributor to APeJ becoming the top inkjet market” due to increased inkjet shipments as a result of “the 6.18 online shopping festival”l It also demonstrates that laser printer shipment volume has remained strong in the PRC market “due to the rapid expansion of the small-medium business (SMB) segment.”
In contrast, the South Asia sub-region “continued to see a strong shift from ink cartridge to ink tank”, a change which has been brought about “by the low cost per page benefit of ink tank and aggressive promotions from vendors”. As the IDC report reveals, “in 2017Q2, the ink tank to ink cartridge ratio had reached an all-time high and had finally crossed the 50 percent mark to make Southeast Asia a truly ink tank dominant market.”
“Taking over USA in terms of inkjet unit shipment this quarter shows that the demand for inkjet in the region is becoming stronger than ever. Concurrently, we are also seeing an increase in demand for ink tank printers as the ratio for ink tank vs ink cartridge had reached an all-time high of 38%. More businesses are buying ink tank to take advantage of the low printing cost,” explained Yexi Liao, a Market Analyst in IDC Asia/Pacific’s Image Printing and Document Solutions (IPDS) team.
“The laser market also see a stronger growth within higher value speed segments of 30+ ppm (printer per minute), as some vendors are struggling with profitability within the low-end speed segments of 1-30 ppm and want to shift up in order to help them protect their profit margin,” continued Liao.
India experienced a decline in both inkjet and laser markets in the second quarter of 2017, by -6.8 percent and -3.8 percent respectively, which “was largely due to market’s apprehension on the GST implementation”; the IDC explains that “they refused to take in any further shipment from vendors in order to avoid a high level of leftover stock when the GST gets implemented.”
The IDC data also revealed the following highlights:
- “The top five hardcopy peripherals companies account for 81 percent of the market. The dominance of main players is expected to continue. We also do not expect to see any new hardcopy peripherals companies entering the market that will be able to make a significant difference to the market.
- Inkjet market continues to shift more towards ink tank printers. Ink tank printers continues to grow at a rapid rate, recording a 17.2 percent year-on-year growth in 2017Q2. The growth is largely due to the consumer and SMB segments, where they are more cost conscious and prefer the low cost per page benefit that ink tank technology can provide. ASEAN remains to be the top market for both inkjet and ink tank printers.
- Laser market in APeJ continues to outperform the rest of the world. Propelled by the growing demand for print devices in China, APeJ had recorded the highest year-on-year growth rate in the world for the fourth consecutive quarter.
- Online sales is at an all time high. Due to the 6.18 online shopping festival and the strengthening partnership between vendors and key etailers such as JD.com and Tmall, online purchasing continued to expand outside of consumers segment; channels are shifting to make their purchases online due to the low product pricing and ease of delivery provided by the etailers.
- Mature markets continue to shift away from print. Mature markets such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and Korea had all continued to decline in their overall shipment in 2017Q2 as a result of digitization and the high adoption rate of smart devices in these markets.”