The Hardcopy Peripherals (HCP) market shipped 1.03 million units in the third quarter of 2019 (3Q19), posting a 22.6% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) growth. A decline in shipment of inkjet printers and the laser segment brought the overall HCP market down by 6.5% year-over-year (YoY), according to a report by IDC India.
The market performed much below the expectations from some of the previous quarters because of a combination of factors like excess inventory being carried forward owing to a drop in festive consumer buying behavior. It was aggravated further by channel partner issues across the country. The situation does not look optimistic in the coming quarters as well
HP (excluding Samsung) maintained its leadership in HCP with a market share of 38%, while its shipments declined by 9.9% on a YoY basis. Epson maintained its second position in the overall HCP market and declined marginally by 1.3% YoY. Canon recorded a YoY decline of 5%, while maintaining its third position in the HCP market, and capturing 23.5% unit market share.
After two years of consistent YoY growth, the inkjet segment declined by 3.8 % due to sluggish consumer demand, despite 3Q19 being the quarter in which online channel partners stocked up high volumes for the festive season online sales.
Barring 2Q17, which was largely impacted by the then upcoming GST launch, the ink tank segment saw the lowest YoY growth of 0.3%. The laser segment occupied the lowest market share till date of 37.8 %, owing to the migration of users to the ink tank segment and weak demand from Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) due to credit issues they continue to face with banks. Overall, the laser segment witnessed a YoY decline of 13.5%.
“While the YoY growth seems challenging, the situation has improved from a QoQ perspective. The inkjet market grew by 35% QoQ in preparation for the upcoming festive season. There was an increase in demand from the Government and the corporate sector. Interestingly, single-function printers grew significantly YoY, while its multi-function counterpart declined, a trend not observed in the last 19 quarters. This was a conscious move from vendors in order to flush out the inventory of single-function printers through partner schemes and flash online sales,” said Bani Johri, Market Analyst, IPDS, IDC India.