Russian Printer Market Falls 15% in Shipment

The hardcopy peripherals (HCPs) market in Russia declined around 15% year-on-year (YOY) in unit shipment and over 13% YOY in value in the second quarter of 2014 (2Q2014).

According to IDC, the shipments of single-function (SF) printers and multifunctional printers (MFPs) totaled over 735,000 units.

Laser shipments in Russia declined around 20% YOY in volume. HP took the lead in the laser market and captured more than 40% market share in volume. Samsung and Kyocera ranked second and third positions. Analysts opined that medium-sized and large businesses still have the budget to modernize their printer installed base, while they are “focusing on efficiency and cost-saving production”. Therefore, monochrome and color laser MFPs are preferred.

Inkjet shipments increased by 16% YOY in value, but dropped about 2% YOY in volume. As reported, most major vendors are moving their focus from entry-level inkjets to high-end devices which feature high-speed printing and promise low TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).

Konstantin Makarenkov, Senior Analyst at IDC, says, “While overall market dynamics continued to be negatively affected by macroeconomic factors, the key trends of the previous two quarters persisted. Namely, growth in the midrange color laser MFP segment, due to the increasing affordability (and low TCO) of these machines, as well as strong growth in the midrange and high-end inkjet segments. Both of these developments confirm end-user interest in the benefits to be gained from original CISS systems.”