The worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market increased 1,2% year over year to nearly 28,1-million units in the fourth quarter of 2017 (4Q17).
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, the growth was driven by a solid performance in the inkjet market, which grew 3,3% year over year.
Shipment value, on the other hand, decreased 1% year over year to $13,7-billion in the quarter.
Three out of the top five companies saw year-over-year shipment growth in 4Q17, with Epson leading the way at 12,2%, followed by Brother at 5,2% and Canon Group’s 1,4%. Top-ranked HP Inc recorded a year-over-year decline of 3,8% in 4Q17.
For the full year 2017, HP Inc.’s shipments of more than 39-million units remained unchanged from 2016 while Epson, Brother, and Canon Group posted positive year-over-year growth of 4,6%, 3,6%, and 1,3%, respectively.
Notable highlights from this quarter include:
* Contributing to inkjet’s growth of 3.3% year over year in 4Q17 were increases from Latin America, Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ). Some of the factors behind these gains included a rise in shipments of ink tank devices outside of the APeJ region, increased salary levels that had helped to boost consumption along with the rapid growth of e-tail channels in China, and high demand from businesses after the implementation of GST in India.
* Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) outperformed all other regions in the laser segment, posting 6,1% year over year growth to 3,9-million units shipped in 4Q17. China continued to be the main source of growth in the region due to strong expansion of the small and medium-size business segment and strong demand during the year-end online shopping festivals. India was also a major contribution to growth in the region with a 19% year -over-year increase in shipments.
* Epson showed positive year-over-year growth in all IDC’s regional markets. Epson launched more new models this quarter to help support its push of ink-tank devices. Although the L360 is still Epson’s top model, adoption of the L380 also showed strong momentum as the shipment volume almost surpassed the L360 model this quarter. Meanwhile, the L1300 had been the best performing model of Epson’s new range of devices.