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Worldwide Hardcopy-Peripherals Market Down 4.8 Percent in Fourth Quarter

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The worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market declined 4.8 percent year-over-year to approximately 26.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2018 (4Q18), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker.

According to IDC, the brightest spot for the quarter was HP’s positive year-over-year performance of 3.6 percent growth in unit shipments. The vendor expanded year-over-year in its top two regional markets – Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (APeJ) and the United States.

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

For third-quarter 2018, IDC had reported that worldwide shipments were down 1.2 percent, while for second-quarter 2018, it had reported that worldwide shipments grew 0.9 percent.

Notable highlights from the quarter include:

  • The total inkjet market in the APeJ region recorded its 11th consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth with 3.59 million units shipped, the highest in a quarter since second-quarter 2012. APeJ was the only region to have achieved positive year-over-year shipment growth this quarter.
  • All speed ranges of color laser MFPs in the U.S. experienced growth except the 1-10 ppm and 11-20 ppm segments, each of which declined year-over-year. Canon had the highest year-over-year growth in the 21-90 ppm segment.
  • Increased shipments in inkjet ink-tank segment was observed in Latin America. Fourth-quarter 2018 marks the second-consecutive quarter in which ink-tank machines surpassed the unit volume of ink-cartridge inkjet models. All vendors in this space recorded year over expansion.
Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Market, Unit Shipments, Company Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q4 2018 (based on unit shipments)
Companies 4Q18 Unit Shipments 4Q18 Market Share 4Q17 Unit Shipments 4Q17 Market Share 4Q18/4Q17 Growth
1. HP Inc. 10,595,264 39.6% 10,224,556 36.4% 3.6%
2. Canon Group 5,967,368 22.3% 6,485,110 23.1% -8.0%
3. Epson 4,734,937 17.7% 5,581,251 19.9% -15.2%
4. Brother 2,064,428 7.7% 2,118,463 7.5% -2.6%
5. Kyocera Group 523,367 2.0% 518,564 1.8% 0.9%
Others 2,849,450 10.7% 3,162,141 11.3% -9.9%
Total 26,734,814 100.0% 28,090,085 100.0% -4.8%
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, February 2019

Source: IDC

Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Market, Unit Shipments, Company Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Full Year 2018 (based on unit shipments)
Companies 2018 Unit Shipments 2018 Market Share 2017 Unit Shipments 2017 Market Share 2018/2017 Growth
1. HP Inc. 40,069,721 40.5% 39,315,851 39.3% 1.9%
2. Canon Group 20,368,262 20.6% 20,873,758 20.9% -2.4%
3. Epson 17,757,855 17.9% 18,248,099 18.2% -2.7%
4. Brother 7,475,291 7.6% 7,525,126 7.5% -0.7%
5.Kyocera Group 2,022,797 2.0% 1,959,229 2.0% +3.2%
Others 11,296,043 11.4% 12,124,683 12.1% -6.8%
Total 98,989,969 100.0% 100,046,746 100.0% -1.1%
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, February 2019

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

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