After eight successive quarters of decline, the Middle East and Africa (MEA) hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market finally returned to a state of positive growth during the third quarter of 2013, with shipments up 6,6% year on year to total 1,472-million, according to the region’s premier research and advisory firm, International Data Corporation (IDC).
It was a different story for revenues, however, with the market’s value showing a modest decline of 1% over the same period.
Shipment growth was seen across most countries in the region, with the emerging markets of North Africa, Nigeria, and Sub-Saharan Africa being the main drivers of this performance. Among the more developed markets only the UAE and Turkey showed growth, while shipments in Saudi Arabia remained flat and South Africa posted a decline.
“Notwithstanding the political strife in Syria, Egypt, and parts of North Africa, the MEA region has once again proved to offer one of the most sustainable growth opportunities in the world for print vendors,” says Ashwin Venkatchari, senior program manager for imaging, printing, and document solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.
“We believe that this encouraging development is organic in nature given the balance between increased tender activity among public sector entities and large enterprises and the increased SMB opportunities presented by improvements in the region’s macroeconomic environment.
“Technologies such as multifunction printers (MFP) and digital copiers have shown sustainable growth across most of the region’s markets,” adds Venkatchari. “At the same time, an increasing number of vendors are showing a keen interest in introducing managed print services (MPS) and document solutions to their portfolios as they look to move away from their traditional business models.”
HP continued to dominate the MEA HCP market’s volume with 52,9% share, following an impressive 9% year-on-year increase in shipments. Canon followed in second place with 20,6% unit share, while Samsung placed third with 17,2%.
Brother and Epson rounded out the top five vendors at 4,9% and 4,4%, respectively, with Epson suffering a 31,1% year-on-year decline in shipments due to its withdrawal from the entry-level inkjet segment.
In Q3 2013 inkjet shipments reported flat year-on-year growth of 0,6% to total 652 500 units. However, revenues declined 6,5% over the same period. Inkjet devices priced below $100 posted moderate year-on-year growth of 9%, which was a primary contributor to the decline in overall inkjet revenues. Shipments in this price band contributed almost 70% of the overall inkjet units shipped during the quarter.
Just under 85% of all inkjet devices shipped were MFPs, shipments of which increased 2,1% year on year. Single-function inkjet devices contracted 9,2% in unit terms.
Monochrome laser shipments grew substantially during Q3 2013, increasing 12,8% year on year to total 648,000 units. Revenues, however, declined 3,8% over the same period. Mono laser MFP shipments remained on an impressive growth trajectory, increasing 26,1% year on year. Meanwhile, demand from captive markets in Africa helped drive a 3,5% increase in mono laser single-function printers.
The colour laser segment exhibited the market’s strongest growth figures for Q3 2013. Over 130 000 colour laser devices were shipped during the quarter, up 28,2% in unit terms and 13,5% in revenue. MFPs represented over 63% of the colour laser market’s volume in Q3 2013, with shipments up 33,1% year on year.