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EMEA Printer Shipments Stable in Fourth Quarter, Inkjet Sales Up

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London-based IT market-research firm CONTEXT reports that unit shipments of printers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in fourth-quarter 2017 remained stable compared to last year, “as healthy growth across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) offset declines across Western, Central, and Eastern Europe.

The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region continued to outperform other regions, with unit shipments increasing by 16 percent on the back of a drop last year. When compared to the previous quarter, there was a dip in the performance of most categories, except for inkjet MFPs, which continued to show rising growth. Sales of printers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) continued to increase and registered growth of 23 percent year-over-year, driven mainly by inkjet MFPs. Double-digit growth in Saudi Arabia and South Africa followed particularly weak performances in fourth-quarter 2016. Although unit shipments of inkjet MFPs continue to grow, the decline in other categories has led to an overall decrease in Turkey, Israel, and Egypt.

Sales in Western Europe account for more than 67 percent of all printer hardware shipments to EMEA, and declined by 5 percent year-over-year in fourth-quarter 2017, having also fallen in the previous quarter.

Sales of laser devices also continued to fall and made a significant contribution to the overall decline, while sales of single-function inkjet printers increased compared to fourth-quarter 2016. There was an 11 percent year-over-year decrease in the United Kingdom, which CONTEXT says was , driven mainly by falling sales of inkjet MFPs, whereas there was a 6 percent increase in Italy due to increasing demand for inkjet MFPs, but a flat performance in France.

Performance in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) mirrored that in Western Europe. There was a 5 percent year-over-year decline, driven by falling sales of laser hardware, while sales of inkjet MFPs and printers continued to increase, registering growth of 7 percent each.

Sales in Russia accounts for 44 percent of all printer hardware unit shipments to Central and Eastern Europe, according to CONTEXT, and the increasing demand for inkjet MFPs led to growth of 1 percent year-over-year in fourth-quarter 2017. Sales in Poland and Hungary increased once again, registering increases of 11 percent and 15 percent year-over-year, respectively, due to demand for inkjet MFPs. However, shipments to most other major countries in the region continued to decline, mainly because of a reduction in the number of laser technology devices shipped.

Quarterly year-on-year change in printer hardware unit shipments (sell-in), EMEA:

 

For more information, or if you would like to subscribe to receive CONTEXT Research Updates, please email: research@contextworld.com

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