Western European Hardcopy Shipments Remain Strong

IDC reported that Western European printer and multifunction (MFP) markets in the third quarter of this year continued to grow 2% year-on-year (YoY), with 5.87 million units shipped, which increased for the sixth quarter in a row. But the revenues continued to decline.

As stated by the analyst, total inkjet markets in the region marked up 2.8% YoY in the third quarter. Business inkjets showed the most year-on-year growth at 10.9%. High-speed inkjet printers increased by more than three quarters and had one of its best ever quarters. However, consumer inkjet markets continued to contract. The laser markets remained flat and registered small gains for color products, particularly color MFP products, but this was offset by declines in the monochrome markets, especially single-function printers.

Also, it is noted MFP products recorded 2.8% YoY increase and represented 80.8% of all shipments in the quarter, while single function printers fell by 1.2%.

In terms of regions, the UK and German markets saw a hike of 7.8% and 3.5% YoY, respectively, but shipments in France contracted by 3.3%.

“The overall market increased for the sixth quarter in a row and although this growth may not be in double-digit figures, it does show that there are still many positives to be taken from the industry and there are several growth markets such as business inkjets and color laser which have become a major focus for many vendors wishing to adapt their business models to changing customer requirements,” said Phil Sargeant, program director of IDC’s Western European Imaging Hardware Devices and Document Solutions group.