According to IDC, W. European printer and multifunction (MFP) shipments are down by -5.8% Y-o-Y to reach 4.6 million units in Q1 2019, while revenues total $2.5 billion, a decline of -4.1% Y-o-Y.
"The decline shown in Q1 2019 was in line with expectations and the markets and this negativity is likely to be reflected throughout 2019, but there will be some growth from some segments," the analyst says. "The hardcopy markets are still very valuable to many OEMs and some traditional markets such as monochrome and inkjet are still very sizable even if they are declining."
Inkjet shipments are down by -5.4% Y-o-Y to reach just over 3m units, with both A4 and A3 shipments recording negative growth figures. Most declines are from printer devices, but MFP shipments also decreased by over -4% Y-o-Y, even if some OEMs see growth. High speed inkjet devices are down on unit terms, but up in terms of revenues. Serial impact dot matrix market, on the other hand, continues to decline.
Laser shipments show a -6.1% Y-o-Y decline, with some areas of growth. A4 single-function printers declined heavily, but A3 single function printers and A4 monochrome MFP devices show "small" growth. The value of laser printers is also down by -2.5% Y-o-Y, although some higher speed segments are on the up.
On a geographical basis Germany, traditionally the largest market in W. Europe, sees Q1 2019 shipments dropping by -10.3% to reach 1.1m units, a "much poorer result" than the European average. France shows a similar shipment decline of -11.8% Y-o-Y to 81000 units, while the UK declines at a lesser rate of -4.1% Y-o-Y, bringing shipments of 780000 units.
Italy shows some positivity even as growth for Q1 2019 totals just 0.3% Y-o-Y for 625000 units. Spain, on the other hand, is the best performing country of the quarter as shipments increase by 9.7% Y-o-Y thanks to strong inkjet shipments on both the consumer and business side.
