Suppliers continue to struggle to satisfy demand in the Western European hardcopy market, says IDC.
Despite the continuing supply chain issues affecting the Western European hardcopy market, 1Q22 was a relatively good quarter for some, but still pretty bad for others. Widely publicised supply chain issues for hardware, toner, and ink have now been compounded in some quarters by paper shortages, especially in the production segments, and by inflation, which is increasing prices across all sectors from home to office use, IDC said.
When comparing the market to 1Q21, when demand was extraordinarily high due to lockdowns, the overall market declined year-on-year by 16.3%. When compared to the pre-pandemic quarter of 1Q20, however, the market remains effectively flat. Some volume and value OEMs have seen significant growth due to a range of factors such as improved go-to-market strategies, new price plans, effective supply chain management, and portfolios simply matching demand for the home and office.
IDC added that now that lockdowns have ended, many suppliers will now switch their attention from the home back to the office, but these new opportunities are again being hampered by supply chain issues that are likely to continue throughout the year, for some at least.
The inkjet shipment figure of 3.12 million units was the highest 1Q shipment figure for more than four years. This shows that demand for lower-cost consumer and office devices remains strong, but laser growth was severely restricted due to supply chain woes, with the shipment figure of 1.19 million the lowest first quarter shipment figure for more than 20 years. There are significant back orders for most suppliers, and some have taken to simply not tendering for certain contracts as they believe they could not fulfil the orders in the near future.
“As workers return to their places of employment the demand for hardcopy devices remains strong, but the continuing supply chain issues for hardware and supplies are seriously hampering recovery for many suppliers. On the plus side, those with fewer issues are taking advantage and are seeing their sales and installed base increase,” said Phil Sargeant, Senior Programme Director, Western European Imaging, Hardware Devices, and Document Solutions Group, IDC.
Main highlights:
- The overall Western European hardcopy market declined 16.3% year on year in 1Q22; shipments were at 4.32 million units.
- The 1Q22 market value in Europe declined by 14.3% to €2.10 billion.
- Inkjet shipments declined 31.0% in 4Q21; consumer inkjets declined by 34.0% but business inkjets increased by 8.4%.
- Overall laser shipments declined by 15.9% year on year in 1Q22; colour shipments declined by 18.5%, while monochrome shipments declined by 14.3%.
- The inkjet market contracted by 16.2%; consumer markets declined by 12.9% and business inkjets declined by 31.0%.
Main country highlights:
Due to the supply chain issues, almost all the Western European hardcopy markets declined. The main country highlights are shown below.
Germany
German shipments declined by 17.1% in 1Q22 for a market of 913,000 units, around 189,000 units below 1Q21 and 161,000 below the pre-pandemic quarter of 1Q20. All segments of the inkjet and laser markets contracted, including overall consumer and business markets. The only bright spot in Germany for the quarter was the increase in installations of high-speed inkjet devices. Germany remained the largest market, however.
France
French shipments declined year on year by 18.7% (or 185,000 units) to give a market size of 803,000 units, only 26,000 below the pre-pandemic quarter of 1Q20. As with Germany, all segments declined, but the inkjet market remained at the same level as 1Q20 as demand for low-end devices remained strong and business inkjets increased over the corresponding period.
The UK
UK shipments declined by 19.8% year on year (or 178,000 units) to give a market size of 720,000 units. Compared to the pre-pandemic market of 1Q20, the UK increased by 4.0% and in 1Q22 the A3 laser MFP and A3 laser printer markets increased year on year as more contracts were fulfilled; other laser segments and the consumer inkjet market suffered, however.
Italy
The Italian market declined by 15.0% for a market size of 575,000 units. This is a year-on-year decline of 100,000 units, but it is an increase from the pre-pandemic quarter of 1Q20. As with other countries, all segments declined as the supply chain issues affected most brands.
Spain
Spain’s shipments declined by 17.4% for a market size of 373,000 units. This is a decline of 80,000 units, but again it is higher than the pre-pandemic 1Q20. The only segment that showed any growth was the high-speed inkjet market.
