Printer and copier market recovers

THE PRINTER AND COPIER market has rebounded to a new high since its decline in the global recession, according to market research firm IDC.

In the final quarter of 2010 the market grew by seven per cent compared to the prior year, the highest it has been since 2007.

Multifunction printers saw an increase in market share of four points to 67 per cent as more people opt to include multiple home or office devices in one box.

Inkjet printers are still the dominant technology in the industry, shipping 24.5 million units in the fourth quarter. This amounts to a 67 per cent market share.

The highest growth was in Latin America, where the figure was 16 per cent. Other markets, such as Asia Pacific excluding Japan, the Middle East and Africa, and Western Europe saw declines in inkjet sales.

Laser printers did well in the fourth quarter, shipping 11 million units. Growth was particularly high in Latin America, at 35 per cent, while Central and Eastern Europe saw a rise of 25 per cent.

Monochrome laser technology represented 83 per cent of the laser printer market, with shipments of nine million units in the final quarter of 2010.

Despite this, colour laser printers saw a 10 per cent increase in sales in the fourth quarter, totally 1.8 million units. Colour laser technology now has a 17 per cent share of the laser printer market.

HP, Canon and Epson continue to dominate the market, with a combined market share of 75 per cent. In the fourth quarter HP saw sales growth of 10 per cent, while Canon and Epson experienced growth of five and two per cent, respectively. µ