According to analyst firm IDC, the worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP), also known as the printer market, decreased 10.6% year-over-year on shipments of 23.11 million units in the first quarter of 2016.
Inkjet printers experienced a year-over-year decline of 11.1% while the laser market declined 10.5% year-over-year.
Within the overall market, the contractual trend continues to grow with more than 1.8 million units being shipped for managed print services in 1Q16.
All four of the major geographic regions ? Asia-Pacific, Japan, Western Europe, and the United States ? contributed to the positive contractual momentum, with year-over-year growth ranging from 3.9% to 41%.
Other notable highlights from the first quarter include the following:
? High-end Color Laser Devices (45 ppm+) continued to grow year-over-year, gaining 8.4% in 1Q16.
? Epson maintained its year-over-year growth streak, albeit at a more conservative rate of 6.7% this quarter versus an average of about 19% in 2015. The China market was largely responsible for pulling down Epson’s growth rate after the vendor and its channels effectively reached their fiscal year targets during the last three quarters of 2015.
? HP grew its total laser business 3.0% year-over-year in North America (US and Canada), accounting for 39% share. The color laser 21-30ppm segment grew by 785.5% annually, as both printer and MFP shipments moved upstream. The Color LaserJet M2xx family is driving demand, where HP had found great acceptance of the new Jet Advantage technology.
