The worldwide hardcopy peripherals market grew 2,6% year-over-year, with 28,1-million units shipped in the third quarter of 2013 (3Q13), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker.
Most significantly, this quarter’s market growth marks the first time since the first quarter of 2011 where both inkjet and laser segments achieved year-over-year unit shipment growth. These growth figures were 0,4% for inkjet and 5,9% for laser.
Contributing to the overall growth were positive year-over-year results from all major markets with Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan)(APeJ) leading the pack at 5,2%, followed by Western Europe and the United State with growth of 3,5% and 0,5%, respectively.
“HP and Brother were the biggest contributors to the year-over-year increase in the worldwide hardcopy peripherals market.
“HP’s growth in laser technology was driven by its on-going trade-in promotion and its efforts to increase the storefront visibility of the LaserJet Pro P1102/P1102w, HP’s top-selling model. IDC expects the overall market to continue growing in the single digits over the next four quarters,” says Phuong Hang, programme manager of Worldwide Hardcopy Peripheral Tracker.
The biggest hardcopy technology market, inkjet, had worldwide shipments of 16,8-million units in 3Q13 and grew 0,4% year-over-year. The main driver for this growth was the 4% year-over-year increase experienced in inkjet multifunction printers (MFP). This was also the first quarter since Q1 2011 where six out of eight regional markets had positive year-over-year results in the inkjet MFP market.
Monochrome laser devices grew 5,5% year-over-year in 3Q13 to 8,3-million units shipped, resulting in a 39% share of the overall hardcopy peripherals market.
Five of the eight regional markets saw year-over-year growth in monochrome shipments with Latin America posting the best performance at 16,4%. Other regions with year-over-year gains in monochrome laser include APeJ, Canada, Middle East & Africa (MEA), and Western Europe.
Colour laser continued to be the market’s bright spot with 7,8% year-over-year growth in 3Q13. Colour laser devices retained a 7% share of the overall hardcopy market with more than 1,8-million units shipped. All regions experienced year-over-year growth in colour laser shipments with MEA leading the pack at 28,2%, followed by Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) at 16,1% and APeJ at 14,3%.
HP leads the global hardcopy peripherals market with 40,7% market share in 3Q13. The vendor grew 12,2%, the best year-over-year trend among the top 5 vendors, to more than 11,4-million units shipped in 3Q13. HP achieved positive year-over-year results in all eight regional markets, with Western Europe produced the strongest results at 20,5% growth, followed by APeJ at 18,4%.
Canon, the number two ranked vendor, captured 20,4% of the market in 3Q13, essentially unchanged from a year ago. The vendor achieved positive year-over-year gains in two of its three largest regional markets with 12,6% growth in Western Europe and 2,2% in the United States.
Epson held onto the number three position worldwide with 14,2% share and 4-million units shipped. Despite a year-over-year decline of -4,5% in total unit shipments, the vendor managed to achieve year-over-year growth in APeJ, its largest regional market.
Brother strengthened its position as the number four vendor in the worldwide hardcopy market with 7,2% share. The vendor grew 5,7% year-over-year and recorded shipments of 2-million units during the quarter. Brother’s 15,6% year-over-year growth in APeJ, its largest regional market, was fuelled by strong growth (26%) in the laser segment.
Samsung rounded out the top five vendors with 1,3-million units shipped and 4,6% share, essentially unchanged from a year ago. Despite a year-over-year decline of -5,1% in total shipments, Samsung was able to achieve positive results in the U.S. and MEA, with year-over-year growth of 17,2% and 4,1%, respectively.