According to research by International Data Corporation (IDC), the Western European printer and multifunction (MFP) market declined by 10,4% in unit terms in 1Q20 compared with the same period a year ago to give a market size of 3,7-million units, but market values contracted by 33,3%.
The disparity exists as demand for low-end inkjet and laser devices remained strong as workers and students continued to switch from the office and educational institutions to the home, and as many places of work and schooling closed down, the installation of many new devices was postponed or cancelled.
As a result, channel partners ordered fewer devices, and in many cases simply extended the contracts for existing customers, meaning fewer new shipments were made — especially for the higher value units.
Towards the end of the quarter, some countries lifted lockdowns in many workplaces but shipments of certain devices such as A3 MFPs remained weak as budgets were cut or switched to other technology services and a lack of resources meant that many installations were still on hold.
Most countries saw declines, and these ranged from minimal single-digit declines to declines of over a quarter as lockdown conditions were much more severe in some countries than others and stock issues in some countries also prevailed. There were, however, some exceptions and some countries recorded growth, mainly due to increased inkjet shipments.
“Overall device shipments performed better than expected in 2Q20 as demand for low-end inkjet and laser devices outstripped supply in some cases,” says Phil Sargeant, program director in IDC’s Western European imaging, hardware devices and document solutions group. “However, demand for higher specification A3 and A4 devices remained weaker as many establishments were closed for the quarter, meaning many installations were postponed or cancelled.”
The overall Western European hardcopy market contracted by 10,4% year on year in 2Q20, recording a shipment figure of 3,7-million units.
The value for the 1Q20 market in Europe declined by 33,3% to just over €1,7-billion.
Inkjet shipments declined by 3,9% in 1Q20 with consumer devices declining by just 2%.
Laser shipments for the quarter were down by 22,7% with A3 shipments declining by 41,3% and A4 devices by 19,7%.