July saw printer sales through European distributors fall sharply by -6.8% year-on-year. Even so, the revenue generated during this month increased by 0.8% driven by business inkjet MFP sales, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Supply chain disruptions and low inventory levels impacted all categories resulting in sharp declines in sales and revenue for laser and inkjet single-function printers (SFPs). However, in spite of a small fall in the number of units sold (?1.4%), revenues from inkjet MFPs grew by 13.4% thanks to a shortage of laser printers in the >€300 ($353) price range leading to increased sales of business models and more expensive consumer devices.
According to CONTEXT, Germany was the only one of the top five Western European economies to see business inkjet MFP sales decline in July (?22.4%). Elsewhere, returns to the workplace and the rebalancing of IT budgets toward office equipment boosted sales of these devices.
Sales of ink tank MFPs, which have been growing since the beginning of the pandemic, increased by 12.4% and revenue climbed at an even faster rate (31%) as people purchased more of the reasonably priced business ink-tanks that have been released recently.
Ink cartridge MFPs saw overall revenue growth of 9.5%, benefiting from restored demand for business printers, sales of which were up by 18.7% year-on-year and revenue by 11.4%.
Overall inkjet MFP figures were affected by severe shortages of consumer and entry-level business printers at the beginning of Q2. In May, manufacturers began to increase shipments of these products to address the backlog and new orders, leading sales and revenue to pick up in June (by 35.6% and 54.7%, respectively).
CONTEXT said that demand for these models remained high in July, although the product mix shifted toward more expensive devices – particularly mid-range and high-end business printers which still have reasonably good availability.
Higher prices for entry-level business inkjet printers also contributed to solid revenue growth, according to CONTEXT. Ongoing disruption to component production lines and the supply chain, container shortages, and rising shipping costs will lead to continuing shortages and volatile supply in the distribution channel so the prices of mid-range and high-end business inkjet MFPs can be expected to increase in turn.
