Global Printer, Copier, MFP Market Sees 20 Percent Decline In First Half Of 2009

The print industry has not been immune to the effects of the sour economy, and in the first half of 2009, worldwide combined printer, copier and MFP shipments totaled 51.3 million units, a 20.2 percent decline in shipments from the first half of 2008, according to researchers at Gartner.

"The market witnessed a weak demand as both businesses and consumers reduced spending, and the drop in shipments was also impacted by tighter inventory controls in order to minimize inventory levels in the channels," said Lai-Ling Lam, senior research analyst at Gartner, in a statement.

Office printing devices drove the overall decline in the global print market, with a 24.5 percent decrease in the first half of the year compared to the first half of 2008.

"In this tough economic environment, businesses are delaying or eliminating purchases of new equipment altogether," Lam said. "The global downturn has also forced them to review their printing needs, which could change their print consumption in the long term. At the same time, it also makes print vendors increasingly look at alternative hardware strategies such as managed print service [MPS] and smart MFP adoption as ways to increase revenue."

Among vendors, Hewlett-Packard remained in the No. 1 spot, with 40 percent of the market, although it lost 3.4 percentage points in market share from the same period a year ago.

Canon followed as the second largest vendor with a 19 percent share of the market. The other top companies were: Epson, 14.2 percent market share; Brother at 6.2 percent; Samsung with 4.9 percent; and a combination of other unidentified vendors taking 15.6 percent market share.

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