IDC Says Western European Hardcopy Markets Remain Positive

IDC’s latest Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker declares the overall Western European hardcopy markets (including A2-A4 devices) continued to recover, with shipments of over 5.76 million units in 3Q2013. This volume is up 3.6% YoY (Year-on-Year), and IDC projects the general market will keep positive for the rest of 2013.

The total inkjet market saw 2.6% YoY growth, with business inkjet increasing by 25.6% YoY. The laser market, on the other hand, was up by 6.5%. Shipments of monochrome laser printers grew 7.5% YoY and became the largest single market, twice the size of the color laser market.

In the UK, hardcopy volume showed the largest YoY growth at 12.1%, compared with the other two largest markets: Germany and France. The German market also increased by 8.9% YoY, while the French market witnessed a decline of 1.2%, due to a continuing slide in consumer inkjet sales.

Arnaud Gagneux, Director of IDC’s Western European Imaging Printing and Document Solutions group, noted “We are seeing strong demand for document management solutions and managed print services which are driving sales of smart devices, tablets, and multifunctions (MFPs) that can communicate with a wider mobile infrastructure. Business inkjet is also becoming a profitable niche in the market with more products being made available.”

Phil Sargeant, Program Director of IDC’s Western European Imaging Hardware Devices and Document Solutions Group added, “A second growth quarter clearly shows that market recovery is gaining momentum and the recent gains were not just a blip. Business and commercial markets continue to lead the way with positive growth, while consumer markets remain flat but at least haven’t declined further and have stabilized.”