IDC Sees Clones Attacking CEE Consumable Market

IDC reported the overall shipment of printer and MFP consumables in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) market decreased 1.5% year on year (YOY) for the second half of 2013 (2H2013). The growing sales of cheap, new-build compatible products are affecting the market in the region.

According to IDC’s Hardcopy Peripherals Consumables Tracker, the overall volume of the CEE inkjet consumables market declined 5.1% YOY in 2H2013, with the market value down 16.1%. The decrease was mainly caused by a declining installed base and booming cheap, compatible consumables. Meanwhile, the shipment of toner consumables grew 4.6% in volume and 7.3% in value. The increased demand for color toner in the business sector drove the toner sales growth in most countries of this region.

As was revealed by IDC, “the increasing popularity of so-called ‘clones’ is proving troublesome for both OEMs and the producers of remanufactured consumables”. Regarding the clones, analysts observed, “clones use a non-original (non-OEM) cartridge core and other non-original components, and they carry much lower prices than standard compatibles.”

Tomas Hoda, Research Manager at IDC CEMA, said, “Both the inkjet and toner markets were strongly impacted in 2H2013 by cheap compatible vendors and the arrival of clones from Asia. The target of these products is primarily entry-level hardcopy devices with a large installed base. These cheap compatibles and clones damage not only original vendors, but also traditional local manufacturers, and are considered a serious threat for the traditional consumables industry in the coming years.”

“Clone penetration differs widely across the CEE countries. While penetration in countries like Ukraine or Romania is still relatively small, IDC estimates that in Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary clones could represent nearly one third of compatible shipments, and this has obvious implications for the manufacturers of original consumables operating in these markets,” added Hoda.