IDC Finds Worldwide HCP Market Fell in 2Q2014

IDC reported the worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market fell for the first time in the past three quarters. 25.5 Million units were shipped in the second quarter of 2014 (2Q2014), down by 2.3% year-over-year (YoY).

Inkjet remained dominant in the market with a 59.7% market share. Shipments totaled 14,542,581 units, a decline of 3.6% YoY compared with 2Q2013. The laser segment saw 9,827,345 units shipped, falling 0.7%, but color laser grew 10.3% to about 2 million units.

The single function printer market declined by 7.7% YoY in the quarter, while MFP shipments were flat, showing little or no growth. However, MFPs registered strong growth in all color laser speed ranges, especially in the 1-10 pages per minute (ppm) sector.

APeJ (Asia/Pacific, excluding Japan) and Western Europe recorded positive year-over-year gains of 0.4% and 5.0%, respectively. An IDC market analyst noted that the growth in APeJ was driven by China, which accounts for nearly half of the region’s shipments. Moreover, this was the 5th quarter in a row to witness year-over-year growth for the region.

Three of the top 5 vendors (Epson, Samsung, and Brother) saw year-over-year growth. Both Epson’s and Brother’s growth were driven largely by gains in APeJ. It is notable that Samsung overtook HP as the laser market leader in Western Europe. Samsung is quite strong in the low-end, and tends to market its products on price.

Phuong Hang, Program Director for Worldwide Hardcopy Peripheral Trackers, said, “While the overall hardcopy market is mature and we often point to emerging markets as the growth areas, it is important to note that there are still areas of growth and opportunity in more mature markets. Vendors should keep in mind that while pursuing growth in new geographies they need to defend their positions in high-value segments of mature regions, such as color laser multifunction printers (MFP) and the A4 monochrome laser midmarket.”