Inkjet Printers Continue to Lead the India HCP Market in Q1 2017

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According to the latest IDC Asia Pacific Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, May 2017, the HCP market in India registered a 0.5% year-on-year (YoY) growth for the first time in six quarters after unit shipment reached 799,164 in 2017 Q1. The actual numbers for 2017 Q1 are in line with the IDC forecast numbers with only 1% variance in Inkjet HCP and 2% variance in the Laser HCP market.

After demonetization affected 2016 Q4, the printer market bounced back in 2017 Q1 with the inkjet market leading the way with a 15.4% growth YOY. Over the past 12 months, the Indian HCP market has witnessed a significant technology shift, with customers showing an ever-increasing inclination towards ink tank printers over entry level laser printers. The main reason behind this shift is the low cost of printing (starting from as low as 7 paise for black and white (B&W) and 18 paise for color printout) and in-box high page yield ink bottles available in the market. There was also a significant marketing push from vendors, which resulted in generating high visibility for ink tank printers. 

Inkjet HCP Market

• Epson overtook HP as market leader in terms of unit share for the first time ever after posting a 26.5% growth YoY. Epson captured 42.9% of the market while HP had 39.4%.
• The market overall was robust with the top 3 vendors posting double-digit growth. HP and Canon posted 11% and 13.6% YoY growth, respectively.

Ink Tank Printers constitute the lion’s share of the Inkjet market, which contributed to Epson capturing the no.1 position in the category. "Demand from SMEs in smaller cities/towns and home consumers continued to be the driving force behind the growth of Ink Tank Printers shipments in 2017Q1,” says Abhishek Mukherjee, Senior Market Analyst, IDC India.

Laser HCP (Printer - Based) Market

• Laser printer market suffered a decline of 10.2% in 2017 Q1 compared to 2016 Q1. Among the leading vendors, Canon managed to register a growth of 12.6% for the same period.
• HP Inc. continues to be the market leader in laser HCP with a share of 54.8%, followed by Canon and Samsung at the second and third position respectively.

Laser HCP (Copier - Based) Market

• Copier market saw a QoQ growth of 45.9% after a soft 2016 Q4 with demonetization affecting the jobbers segment and low government spending.
• Kyocera shot up to the No.1 spot with a market share of 26.8% with a YOY growth of 22.8%.

“Laser printer based market continues to face challenges although in 2017 Q1 they managed to narrow the shipment gap with inkjet printers quite significantly owing to some good government and corporate deals,” says Manali De Bhaumik , Senior Market Analyst, IDC India.

IDC India Forecast

“Despite the GST tax slab announcement, some confusion prevails as printers are listed in both 18% and 28%, respectively. While the industry waits for clarification on the tax slab, channel partners have already started holding back on inventory stocking, which is likely to bring down the printer shipments in Q2,” says Nishant Bansal , Research Manager (IPDS), IDC India.

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About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world's leading technology media, research, and Events Company.