Western European HCP Market Continues to Slide

According to research by IDC, the Western European printer and multifunction (MFP) market decreased by 5.8% in unit terms in 2Q18 compared with the same period a year ago.

This means that the first half of 2018 has declined by 3.6%. This decline amounted to over 273,000 units for the whole of Western Europe. Not all countries contracted, however, as positive results were recorded for Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. Most major segments witnessed a decline but there were some growth segments such as A3 inkjet MFPs, A3 color laser MFPs, and high-speed inkjets.

The inkjet market contracted by 4.5%, with notable falls in the consumer markets. Business inkjet shipments also fell slightly, but they remain positive for the first half of 2018. The main year-on-year decline was seen in the A4 markets, but the A3 inkjet MFP market continues to increase and there were increases in both the desktop and standalone markets as the technology becomes more popular in many industries. Overall inkjet printer sales declined by more than a third, while overall inkjet MFP shipments dipped slightly.

Laser markets were again subdued, declining by 8.5%. Both printer and MFP markets slid, with the worst performing segments being the A4 color printer market (which declined by a third) and the A3 monochrome MFP market (which declined by a fifth). The only segment to see growth was the A3 color MFP market, despite the continued growth in the A3 inkjet market. Following on from 1Q, the high-speed inkjet market increased by over a third, showing the popularity of these production devices, with particularly strong growth in the continuous feed and label and packaging markets.