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Epson Sees 12.2 Percent Growth in Worldwide Printer Shipments

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The worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market increased 1.2 percent year-over-year to nearly 28.1 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017 (4Q17), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker. The growth was driven by a solid performance in the inkjet market, which grew 3.3 percent year-over-year. Shipment value, on the other hand, decreased 1.0 percent year-over-year to $13.7 billion in the quarter.

Note that IDC tracks A2-A4 devices for its Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker. Hardcopy peripherals include single-function printers, copier/MFPs, and single-function digital copiers (SF DC).

Three out of the top-five companies saw year-over-year shipment growth in 4Q17, with Epson leading the way at 12.2 percent, followed by Brother at 5.2 percent, and Canon Group’s 1.4 percent. Top-ranked HP Inc. recorded a year-over-year decline of 3.8 percent in 4Q17.

For the full year 2017, HP Inc.’s shipments of more than 39 million units remained unchanged from 2016, while Epson, Brother, and Canon Group posted positive year-over-year growth of 4.6 percent, 3.6 percent, and 1.3 percent, respectively.

Notable highlights from this quarter include:

  • Contributing to inkjet’s growth of 3.3 percent year-over-year in 4Q17 were increases from Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ). Some of the factors behind these gains included a rise in shipments of ink-tank inkjet devices outside of the APeJ region, increased salary levels that had helped to boost consumption, along with the rapid growth of e-tail channels in China, and high demand from businesses after the implementation of GST in India.

  • Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) outperformed all other regions in the laser segment, posting 6.1 percent year-over-year growth to 3.9 million units shipped in 4Q17. China continued to be the main source of growth in the region due to strong expansion of the small and medium-size business segment and strong demand during the year-end online shopping festivals. India was also a major contribution to growth in the region with a 19.0% year -over-year increase in shipments.

  • Epson showed positive year-over-year growth in all IDC’s regional markets. Epson launched more new models this quarter to help support its push of ink-tank devices. Although the L360 is still Epson’s top model, adoption of the L380 also showed strong momentum as the shipment volume almost surpassed the L360 model this quarter. Meanwhile, the L1300 had been the best performing model of Epson’s new range of devices.

Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Market, Unit Shipments, Company Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q4 2017 (based on unit shipments)
Companies 4Q17 Unit Shipments 4Q17 Market Share 4Q16 Unit Shipments 4Q16 Market Share 4Q17/4Q16 Growth
1. HP Inc 10,258,659 36.5% 10,666,405 38.4% -3.8%
2. Canon Group 6,483,914 23.1% 6,395,229 23.0% 1.4%
3. Epson 5,550,928 19.8% 4,946,602 17.8% 12.2%
4. Brother 2,114,832 7.5% 2,010,964 7.2% 5.2%
5. Xerox Group 580,153 2.1% 608,240 2.2% -4.6%
Others 3,097,483 11.0% 3,137,508 11.3% -1.3%
Total 28,085,969 100.0% 27,764,948 100.0% 1.2%
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, February 2018

 

Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Market, Unit Shipments, Company Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, 2017 (based on unit shipments)
Companies 2017 Unit Shipments 2017 Market Share 2016 Unit Shipments 2016 Market Share 2017/2016 Growth
1. HP Inc 39,228,206 39.2% 39,213,263 39.6% +0.0%
2. Canon Group 20,859,964 20.9% 20,599,235 20.8% +1.3%
3. Epson 18,262,649 18.3% 17,463,131 17.6% +4.6%
4. Brother 7,521,495 7.5% 7,261,285 7.3% +3.6%
5. Xerox Group 2,302,668 2.3% 2,468,446 2.5% -6.7%
Others 11,775,411 11.8% 12,035,500 12.2% -2.2%
Total 99,950,393 100.0% 99,040,860 100.0% +0.9%
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, February 2018

For more information about IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, contact IDC’s Phuong Hang (phang@idc.com).

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