Asia Pacific Overtakes US Inkjet Market

For the first time, the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) region has surpassed the United States of America to become the number one inkjet market in the world in terms of shipment volume.

According to the latest IDC Asia Pacific Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, the total hardcopy peripherals shipment in 2017Q2 for the Asia Pacific region excluding Japan (APeJ) was 7.84 million units. Inkjet and laser unit shipments both expanded during the quarter, growing 2.2% and 4.9% year-on-year (YOY) respectively. For the first time, APeJ had surpassed United States of America (USA) to become the number one inkjet market in the world in terms of shipment volume.

China was a strong contributor to APeJ becoming the top inkjet market in the world as we saw a strong growth in the volume of inkjet shipment from the 6.18 online shopping festival, which posted a 17.8% YOY growth versus the same time last year.

On the other hand, the Southeast Asia sub-region, which currently contributes the highest inkjet shipment volume in APeJ, continued to see a strong shift from ink cartridge to ink tank from the end users in the second quarter of 2017. This shift is brought upon by the low cost per page benefit of ink tank and aggressive promotions from vendors. In fact, in 2017Q2, the ink tank to ink cartridge ratio had reached an all-time high and had finally crossed the 50% mark to make Southeast Asia a truly ink tank dominant market.

India had suffered a decline in both inkjet and laser in the second quarter of 2017 declining by -6.8% and -3.8% YOY, respectively. This was largely due to market’s apprehension on the GST implementation.

The top five hardcopy peripherals companies account for 81% of the market. These companies are HP Inc, Canon, Epson, Brother, and Samsung.