Color Laser Printer Market To Expand

Shipments are projected to surpass 124.7 million units this year, a 7.8 percent increase from 2004, according to Gartner Inc. Worldwide revenues for these products is forecast to top $59.7 billion, up 4.5 percent from last year.

By 2009, worldwide sales are expected to exceed $60.7 billion, and shipments are forecast to surpass 148.9 million units.

Sales of color laser printers and multifunction products are expected to be high-growth areas, as manufacturers focus on moving business customers away from monochrome devices, Gartner said. Businesses have been reluctant to make the move, because of the additional cost of color printing.

"However, photographs, color charts, graphics imaging, and the Internet are driving the need to print in color," Gartner analyst Peter Grant said in a statement. "Many documents lose their impact and message if they are not printed in color.”

The transition will make for an interesting market, as vendors fight to keep their installed base, and others look to lure business customers with new color offerings, Grant said. Less than 6 percent of the pages printed in the office are in color.

In the consumer market, digital photography is driving demand for color devices, and many manufacturers have lowered prices and improved their products with faster and easier photo printing, Grant said.