The worldwide large-format printer market saw year-over-year growth in the third quarter of 2014 with more than 78,000 units shipped, thanks in part to price promotions, according to the latest edition of International Data Corporation’s (IDC’s) ‘tracker’ report.
The period covered in the report marks the fifth consecutive quarter of global shipment growth, achieving an increase of 0.6 per cent in terms of unit numbers. At the same time, however, shipment value declined by four per cent year over year, to approximately $782 million U.S. In other words, more printers were sold, but at lower prices.
“The third quarter is often the softest of the year in the global large-format printer market,” says Phuong Hang, program director for IDC’s quarterly reports. “While shipments were ahead of 2013, hardware revenue was essentially flat in 2014, due primarily to the vendors’ price promotions.”
Despite the soft quarter, IDC reports wide-format graphics printer shipments were three per cent higher through the first three quarters of 2014 versus 2013. Even stronger growth was seen in the computer-aided design (CAD) and technical market, where shipments grew by more than five per cent in 2014.
HP remained the market leader, gaining share in both shipments and revenues, thanks to growth in both the technical market and, with durable aqueous ‘latex’ inkjet printers, in the graphics market. Canon was number two and Epson number three.
Mimaki and Roland nearly tied for fourth place, which is impressive given they only serve the graphics market, rather than developing CAD or technical wide-format printers.
IDC notes the top five wide-format printer manufacturers account for more than 80 per cent of global shipments, but only about 66 per cent of revenue. This suggests the conventional aqueous ink segment—dominated by HP, Canon and Epson—has matured and is not carrying as premium prices as the more fragmented ultraviolet-curing (UV-curing) inkjet segment.
