Printer Shipment Drops 6% in Taiwan

Overall printer shipment in Taiwan reached 171,126 units in the fourth quarter of 2014, down 6% year-on-year (YoY), according to IDC.

In the inkjet segment, shipment declined 13% YoY to 100,453 units. But compared with the third quarter of 2014, it increased 8%, which was the first raise during the last four quarters. IDC noted the increase was driven by vendors’ sales promotion targeting consumers and channels. 100,453 units of inkjet MFPs (multi-function printers) were shipped in the fourth quarter, up 11% over the third quarter and accounted for 72% of the overall inkjet market. But inkjet SFPs (single-functional printers) saw a slight increase to 28,017 units.

On the other hand, shipment of laser devices rose 5% YoY to 61,814 units during the fourth quarter. Laser SFPs represented almost 60% market share with 35,971 unit shipped, up 18% YoY, mainly driven by government procurement, particularly of medium and high end SFPs. HP, Fuji Xerox and Epson led in the laser SFPs segment market. The emerging brand Pantum ranked fifth in the quarter, which brought change to the almost saturated market. Laser MFPs fell 9% YoY to 25,843 units, resulting from decline of multifunctional copiers.

Ping Meng, Analyst of IDC Taiwan, asserted, “The overall laser devices market in 2014 grew 14% year-on-year. But the continuous reduction of CPP brings pressure to the vendors’ future growth. To solve the problem of small profit margin, vendors should work closely and fast with channels to meet customer’s demand or create new value for customers. ”