It’s not double digits, but the printer vendors and the managed print services providers in the channel will take it. According to IDC, the worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market grew 1.2 per cent year over year with more than 23.4 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2017.
Both inkjet and laser unit shipments contributed to the positive year-over-year momentum, increasing 2.2 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.
Notable highlights from the first quarter include:
- Four of the top 5 HCP companies saw year-over-year shipment growth with Epson leading the pack at 5.6 per cent, followed by HP Inc. at 3.0 per cent, and Canon Group and Brother at 0.6 per cent each.
- Colour inkjet 1-10ppm devices recorded year-over-year growth of 89.2 per cent in unit shipments. The significant increase was fueled by growth across all eight of IDC’s regional markets, ranging from 50.5 per cent to 248.6 per cent.
- Epsoncontinued to gain momentum in the inkjet segment with increased adoption of its five L series models that were introduced two quarters ago. This enabled Epson to achieve 6.9 per cent year-over-year growth in the inkjet segment.
- HP enjoyed 3.0 per cent year-over-year growth in global shipments with a particularly strong performance in China, where the expansion of its tier-three channels allowed it to capture the growth in demand from the rapidly expanding new businesses in the SMB segment.
IDC tracks hardcopy peripherals as single-function printers, multifunctional systems (MFPs), and single-function digital copiers (SF DC).