According to research by International Data Corporation (IDC), the Western European printer and multifunction (MFP) market decreased by 4,9% in unit terms in 3Q19 compared with the same period a year ago, to give a market size of 4,6-million units.
This meant the overall market declined year on year by 236 000 units, but price declines steadied and as there was a skew toward higher-priced devices including production, the quarter generated market values of $2,1-billion – an increase on the same period a year ago.
Inkjet markets have been in decline for several years now as consumer demand continues to contract, and though business inkjet shipments remain strong, they do not make up the shortfall. The inkjet market declined by 4,2% with declines from both consumer and business markets. The value declines for inkjet eased as greater numbers of A3 products shipped.
Laser shipments also declined, at a greater rate than inkjet devices largely due to sharp monochrome declines of 9,6%.
Colour laser also declined, but at a lesser extent of 1,4%, though there were pockets of growth such as A4 and A3 colour MFPs. The A4 color MFP market is increasing at a high rate and for the first time these shipments were higher than A4 monochrome MFP shipments.
High-speed inkjet shipments dipped slightly, while serial impact dot matrix shipments declined heavily.
“The first three quarters of 2019 have all declined year on year, giving rise to a negative growth rate for 2019,” says Phil Sargeant, program director in IDC’s Western European Imaging, Hardware Devices, and Document Solutions group.
“Annual shipments so far are down by almost 800 000 units and most OEMs are seeing their sales decline, but there are some that have invested in new areas and are seeing their shipments increase.”
Highlights from the research include:
* The overall Western European hardcopy market contracted by 6,1% year on year in 3Q19, recording shipments of 4,6-million units, while value increased by 5%.
* A4 colour MFP product shipments increased by 10,8% to show higher shipments than A4 monochrome MFP.
* Inkjet markets continued to contract and the headline figure for 3Q19 was -4,2%.
* Consumer inkjet shipments declined by 4,3% while business inkjet shipments declined by 3,7%.