InfoTrends: Printer and MFP Placements Declined in Western Europe in 2012

According to InfoTrends, placements of printers and MFPs in Western Europe were down in 2012 compared with the previous year. However, monochrome and color A4 MFPs and business inkjet devices both showed  promising demand.

InfoTrends claims that overall placements of 1-69 ppm single- and multi-function laser printers fell 8.1 percent. The demand for single-function laser printers dropped 16 percent year-over-year as the shift to multifunction devices continues. However, placements of monochrome A4 MFPs were up 9.9 percent and that of A4 color MFPs rose 8.1 percent. InfoTrends believes that growth in the multifunction A4 category came from the volume of imaging  devices now in managed print environments. Growth was also affected by the declining demand for A3 format output, outside of the graphic arts space.

InfoTrends says that placements of business inkjet devices grew 3.3 percent in Western Europe in 2012. Additionally, in this region, InfoTrends found there are more annual placements of business inkjet MFPs than color laser printers.

Although HP has been losing market share in Western Europe since 2011, InfoTrends indicates that HP remained the top vendor in the office laser printer market in this region in 2012. Samsung ranked second and Brother held the third position. These two companies both noted an increase in their share of the market.