IDC Reports Compatibles Dominated Ukrainian Consumables Market in 2013

IDC reports that in 2013, the overall Ukrainian market for hardcopy peripherals consumables shrank by 13% to approximately 21.7 million units. Meanwhile, the market value was $107.1 million, down by almost 17%.

According to IDC analysts, OEM consumables command only 4.7% of the ink cartridge shipments and 9.6% of toner. But the penetration of compatible cartridges is small as well. In the ink segment, bulk ink for continuous ink supply systems (CISS) and cartridge refilling by end users represent the majority of non-OEM shipments.

In the toner segment, refilling services take up 78.5% of market volume. Clones do not play a significant role in the Ukrainian market. Rather, IDC analysts say the market slump is a result of severely downsizing business activity and decreasing consumer purchasing power.

Addressing the phenomenon that compatibles dominate the consumables market, Alexey Gvozdenko, Program Manager at IDC Ukraine, says, “Local price sensitivity is not the only reason for large-scale use of refilled cartridges and CISS. Such consumables provide satisfactory results for most users, so they don’t see any sense in paying several times more for OEM products. Moreover, the low cost per print provided by refilling motivates them to print more.”

IDC expects the Ukrainian consumables market to continue its decline in the near future.