Revenues from sales of inkjet single-function printers (SFPs) through European distributors have been largely on the rise since Week 15 of this year on the back of improved supply and consumer demand, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
CONTEXT’s Index Revenue Trend clearly shows weekly average revenues from inkjet SFPs that are way above those of the year before. In Week 22, the figure stood at around 15% above the 2021 baseline.
CONTEXT said: “We believe the turning point in Week 15 was a consequence of product availability: supply bottlenecks were easing and more inkjet SFPs were sold in response to both a backlog of orders and increased demand, especially for consumer ink-tank SFPs.”
Because of this, consumer print revenue first grew closer to business print revenue and, in Week 22, surpassed it for the first time in a long time. While new sales of consumer printers, driven again by ink tanks, and partial fulfilment of earlier orders have been key, price increases have also played a significant role in generating revenue over recent weeks, CONTEXT continued.
According to CONTEXT, A4 printers are now performing significantly better than A3 devices and, once again, this is fuelled by consumer sales, inkjet and ink-tank models in particular.
The resurgence of consumer revenue is reflected in the recent performance of retail chains. This sales channel has been trending above the index 100 line since Week 17; there was a sharp decline in Week 21 but it was followed by a swift recovery the following week.
Retailers in France and Germany have seen high sales of consumer printers since Week 6. As a result, in France, revenue for the retail channel is higher than both last year and 2020, as well as being above the index 100. In Germany, there is a similar situation, although the current revenue index remains below the 2020 level.
