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IDC: 45-PPM Color-Laser Segment Continues to Show Strong Growth in 4th Quarter

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According to IT market-research firm International Data Corporation’s Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, the overall worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market decreased 10.8 percent year-over-year to 27.58 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015 (4Q15). High-end color laser devices (45 ppm+) continued to gain year-over-year momentum in 4Q15, with shipments growing to 182 thousand units. Inkjet experienced a decline of 9.6 percent year-over-year and the laser market saw a year-over-year decline of 13.7 percent. IDC says that consumers are still purchasing inkjet devices in the millions per quarter, but the overall trend is negative.

Note that in its research, International Data Corporation (IDC) tracks A2-A4 devices, and that hardcopy Peripherals include single-function printers, multifunctional systems (MFPs), and single-function digital copiers (SF DC).

Notable highlights from the fourth quarter of 2015 include:

  • The contractual trend continues to grow year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2015 with more than 1.6 million units being shipped for managed print services.
  • Epson outperformed all other vendors in the top five in the fourth quarter with approximately 4.9 million units shipped, flat from last year. The vendor’s L series remains strong despite now having competition from all other major vendors. Epson also enjoyed year-over-year growth in the business-inkjet segment with its large-capacity ink tanks.
  • The Canadian HCP market grew 7.2 percent year-over-year to 2.7 million units shipped. Both inkjet and laser markets experienced year-over-year growth of 1.7 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. The top three laser vendors (Brother, HP, Samsung) all showed positive growth in the quarter. Brother “moved a great deal of product”for back to school in the third quarter with remaining stock being sold off at Cyber Monday sales. Samsung grew through large Boxing Day promotions at Best Buy and Staples.
Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Shipments, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, 2015
Vendors 2015 Unit Shipment 2015 Market Share 2014 Unit Shipment 2014 Market Share 2015/2014 Growth
1. HP Inc 39,688,399 38.4% 43,358,569 39.2% -8.5%
2. Canon 20,897,992 20.2% 22,309,073 20.2% -6.3%
3. Epson 16,571,539 16.1% 16,361,861 14.8% +1.3%
4. Brother 7,692,135 7.5% 8,234,612 7.5% -6.6%
5. Samsung 4,417,173 4.3% 5,695,654 5.2% -22.4%
Others 13,961,593 13.5% 14,548,529 13.2% -4.0%
Total 103,228,831 100.0% 110,508,298 100.0% -6.6%
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, March 9, 2016

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

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