The Recycler Issue 317

WORLD FOCUS
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GLOBAL Market Reports, IDC, HCP
New market research sheds fresh light on printing
Over the last few weeks, new data derived from market research has been illuminating the current state of the printing
industry, particularly when it comes to HCP shipments and office consumables.
For example, research by IDC revealed
that both worldwide and Western
European HCP shipments declined
during Q42018.
The worldwide market decreased to
approximately 26.7 million units in
Q4, contends IDC’s Worldwide
Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals
Tracker.
In Western Europe specifically, the
market decreased by 6.9 percent in
unit terms in 4Q18 compared with the
same period a year ago.
This is in line with the previous
quarter and contributed to the 2018
overall Western Europe market
contracting by 5.3 percent. This equated
to a decline of over 1 million units to
create a market of below 20 million
units. The negative trend can be clearly
seen, and it will continue over IDC’s
forecast period.
In 4Q18 the inkjet markets suffered
the most despite the Christmas period
as shipments declined by 8.8 percent,
and most of this decline was in
consumer inkjets as the home print
market continues to change. Business
inkjets did dip in 4Q18, but not all
OEMs suffered as some had positive
growth. The value for the business
inkjet market was positive as more A3
devices shipped. The overall 2018
shipment figure for inkjet devices was also
negative.
Laser shipments were flat in 4Q18, but
value suffered as there was a skew towards
lower speed monochrome devices which
naturally carry lower average sales prices
(ASPs).
“Contraction in the hardcopy markets is
clearly in evidence as many organisations
transition parts of their business processes
away from paper to digital,” said Phil
Sargeant, Program Director in IDC’s
Western European Imaging, Hardware
Devices, and Document Solutions group.
“The printed page will remain a vital
communication tool for most organisations
across the vertical spectrum, however, as
not all processes are ready for digitisation.
Proof points for this simply include the
number of laser and business inkjets that
still ship in their millions every quarter.”
Meanwhile, for CY2018, India’s HCP
shipments achieved a record high, posting
shipments of approx. 0.85 million units, a
YoY decline of 2.6 percent, as per the latest
IDC Asia/Pacific Quarterly Hardcopy
Peripherals Tracker , CY2018Q4.
“The annual growth was led by Inkjet
printers, specifically Ink Tank printers
which grew by 21.4 percent and now
command 68.4 percent of the overall Inkjet
market in India. The online sales during
2018Q3 played a significant role in catering
to the increased demand from the
Consumer and SMB segment. The year
ended with the Inkjet market commanding
more than half of the HCP market followed
closely by Laser,” says Bani Johri , Market
Analyst, IPDS, IDC India.
“IDC expects the overall HCP market
to decline in 2019Q1 due to weak
consumer and SMB sentiment. While
overall inkjet market is expected to
decline, Ink tank printers are likely to be
the only bright spot in 2019Q1 as vendors
continue pushing them aggressively.
Shifting the focus to ICT spending,
IDC found that that the US-China
trade war, and a “slowing economy”,
are set to hit ICT spending, but with
growth rescued by ongoing digital
transformation.
“In the short term, the trade war
between the US and China continues
to add volatility to the outlook,” said
Stephen Minton, Vice President in
IDC’s Customer Insights & Analysis
Group. “Some firms are also facing the
double whammy of weaker sales in
China, an increasingly important
export market for the manufacturing
industry. Meanwhile, the impact in
China itself could persist over a longer
period of time, with manufacturing
and financial services firms being the
most exposed.”
Concerning aftermarket consumables,
the news seems rather more
positive as according to analysts,
Virtulytix, aftermarket toner is
responsible for approximately a
quarter of the revenue generated by
monochrome toner shipments - and is
also faring well in colour.
“Aftermarket toner cartridge
suppliers are targeting the growing
mid-high speed colour MFP segments
where cartridge usage is quite high,”
says Ron Iversen, Vice President of Market
Intelligence at Virtulytix. “With almost 80
per cent of the toner cartridge market
existing in the colour area, this is clearly the
biggest risk to OEM manufacturers.”
Finally, IDC itself has been voicing its
confidence in the printing industry at large,
making the bold declaration that “Print is
not dead.” In a new infographic, IDC has
unveiled the reasons behind this
declaration, with the infographic displaying
its various predictions for the print industry
in Western Europe in 2019.
These predictions include the emergence
of new pricing models e.g. subscription,
license, per seat, per user; a shift to
contractual from transactional business in
the worlds of Enterprise and SMBs; the
formation of more acquisitions and
strategic partnerships; and the continuation
of consolidation amongst channel,
hardware and software providers.
20 THE RECYCLER • ISSUE 317 • APRIL 2019