CEE Printing Market: A Tale of Two Markets

The overall Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market and the Central Europe (CE) reveals “a tale of two markets”, with different performances.

According to IDC, the overall Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market recorded its worst half-year ever in the first half of 2015 (1H2015). The total shipment of printers and MFPs in CEE region in this period turned to more than 2.15 million, which was less than half of the market levels recorded in the same period of 2008. Also, the shipments of printers and MFPs declined more than 26% in 1H2015, and market value fell by nearly 30%. The overall weak performances in CEE region made a sharp contrast to the markets of the U.S. or Western Europe (WE), where HCP shipments grew or were stable in the first half of the year due to the recovering economy.

However, market in CE delivered good performance, more closely resembling Western European trends. In 1H2015, HCP shipments in most countries saw growth year on year, some even posting double-digit increases. Among them, the Czech Republic market grew over 36% in volume terms, while Hungary recorded a 12% growth over the same period in 2014, and shipments to Poland increased 5%.

IDC estimates that renewed interest in inkjet MFPs contributes to this growth, along with the recovering economy.

From a sub-regional perspective, the CE markets performance also serves to highlight troubles in markets farther east. The overall CEE decline can be traced to developments in Russia, Ukraine, and CIS countries in general. The shipments to Russia dropped by almost half in volume and by close to 60% in value year-on-year. The Ukraine market plummeted 56% in volume terms, while other CIS countries recorded a collective contraction of 30%.

Ilona Stankeova, Research Director at IDC CEMA, said, “Given the severe market conditions, Kyocera’s performance is worth noting. In addition to enacting an aggressive pricing policy especially for Russia, Kyocera fixed prices in rubles and provided the desired stability and predictability for both channels and customers. These moves helped Kyocera to win several tenders, as well as being the only vendor in Russia to increase sales in H1 2015.”

IDC expects stability in the Central European printing market and a further decline of the overall Russian market.