Sharp Decline for Shipments of Printers and MFPs in Europe

European shipments of printers and multifunction peripherals (MFPs) declined 17.3 percent year-over-year to 4,375,000 units in the second quarter of 2023, according to the latest release of the Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker published by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Meanwhile, on a worldwide basis, shipments of hardcopy peripherals declined 11.7 percent year-over-year to 19.5 million units in the second quarter of 2023,

IDC says that overall hardcopy peripheral (HCP) demand remains low as economic conditions, such as the slowdown in GDP growth and high inflation rates, have a negative impact on consumer purchasing power and investment decisions in both the public and private sectors.

Results for the first half of the year in Europe were also down, with shipments declining by more than 10 percent year-over-year.

However, despite a decline in the number of units sold, Europe market value has seen an upward trajectory, attributed to the enhanced accessibility of devices, which fueled shipments of printing hardware, especially within the mid-range and high-end color-laser segments. As a result, the total HCP market value in Europe grew 1.5 percent year-over-year to reach $2.25 billion.

“Seeing the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year value growth on the European HCP market suggests that printing vendors have overcome major supply chain issues,” states Michal Swiatek, research manager for Imaging, Printing, and Document Solutions at IDC Europe.

The top five vendors for shipments in Europe remained unchanged from the previous year: HP Inc., Canon, Epson, Brother, and Pantum (in order of market share). Out of those brands, Brother gained 3.2 percentage points in market share year-over-year due to enhanced product availability, which allowed it to consistently resupply its channel.

IDC projects that the European HCP shipment market will keep contracting moderately in  in 2023, with possible recovery in the laser segment starting from 2024 onward.

More Resources

• August 2023: Worldwide Printer and MFP Shipments Down in Second Quarter
• August 2023: Sharp Decline for Western Europe Printer and MFP Market
• July 2023: IDC Report Says Printer Shipments Down 37.6 Percent in China
• March 2023: IDC Reports Double-Digit Growth for Worldwide Printer and MFP Market
• August 2022: IDC: Worldwide Printer and Copier/MFP Market Declined Again in Second Quarter