HCP Market Analysis of META and India

The overall Middle-East, Turkey, and Africa (META) HCP market posted robust year-over-year growth in terms of both units and value in 2018, according to the latest insights from IDC. IDC’s Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker shows that 5.44 million units were shipped in the region in 2018 for a total value of $1.74 billion, up 8.0 percent and 6.4 percent, respectively, year-over-year.

African markets showed the highest growth rates, with Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa all experiencing double-digit year-over-year growth in terms of both units and value. IDC says that this strong growth was primarily driven by a recovery in natural-resource prices (including oil, platinum, and gold) in 2018, particularly during the first half of the year.

Laser shipments in the META region increased 8.9 percent year-over-year in 2018 to a total of 2.4 million units, with their value rising 4.8 percent over the same period to reach $1.40 billion. The fastest growth in the laser segment was seen in Algeria, Egypt, and Nigeria, while the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also posted robust growth. A notable exception to this trend was Turkey, which suffered a year-over-year decline in units and value as a result of the country’s August currency crisis.

New technologies introduced by inkjet vendors aimed at increasing print speeds and reducing cost per page are also said to have led to renewed interest in both the home and business markets. Inkjet shipments across META increased 7.1 percent year-over-year in 2018 to reach 2.92 million units, while their value increased at almost twice the rate, up 12.1 percent to $298.28 million.

Serial dot matrix (SDM) shipments increased significantly in 2018, reaching 125,749 units worth $47.8 million, up 10.6 percent and 18.9 percent, respectively, year-over-year. The introduction of a VAT (value-added tax) in GCC countries at the beginning of 2018 led to a rise in demand for these devices, due to the requirement for businesses to print and store invoices.

IDC also recently published new research indicating that the India HCP market posted yearly shipments of 3.7 million units in 2018, registering year-over-year growth of 5.5 percent. In fourth-quarter 2018, the market posted shipments of approximately 0.85 million units, a year-over-year decline of 2.6 percent, as per latest IDC Asia/Pacific Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker , CY2018Q4.

The annual growth was led by inkjet printers, specifically ink-tank printers, which grew by 21.4 percent and now command 68.4 percent of the overall Inkjet market in India. Inkjet-printer shipments grew by 2.9 percent year-over-year, with a contribution of 50.0 percent to the overall India HCP market. Growth in inkjet-printer shipments was led by ink-tank printers, which recorded year-over-year growth of 10.5 percent. The overall laser-printer market declined year-over-year by 4.8 percent. However, the laser-copier market continued the growth momentum and registered a healthy year-over-year growth of 28.2 percent.

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