Bangkok--29 Oct--IDC
According to IDC's Asia/Pacific Quarterly Printer Consumables Tracker*, the printer consumables market grew about 5% year-on-year to reach 46 million units in 2Q 2008. Inkjet cartridge remained dominant, accounting for 80% of the total printer consumables market or close to 37 million units. Strong growth continued in the laser toner market with 18% growth year-on-year to exceed the 9 million mark this quarter.
Increasing adoption of laser Single Function Printers (SFPs) and Multifunction Peripheral (MFPs) continued to strengthen the demand for toners in the market with the key vendors showing very strong double-digit growth. “There was strong growth exceeding 20% in the toner markets of India, Indonesia, the PRC and Thailand," said Shirley Teo, Research Manager of IDC’s Asia/Pacific Hardcopy Peripherals Research.
HP continued to garner the largest unit market share at 58% in the toner market, maintaining a good lead ahead of Samsung at 12%, who had done a commendable job in pushing its main unit sales. The installation of HP laser SFPs and MFPs in many large enterprises, corporations and the public sectors, where printing consumptions tend to be higher, sustained its market leadership. However, HP is challenged by more direct competition which includes third party vendors, counterfeits and gray imports as compared to other key original vendors. "Samsung is gaining a stronger foothold in the toner space as it gains more confidence among the corporate users in the commercial and public sectors, after establishing a good customer base among the SMBs. This certainly brings forth good demand for its laser supplies moving forward,” added Shirley.
In 2Q 2008, the inkjet cartridge market only managed to ink a 2% growth, which pales in comparison to 8% growth in the same quarter last year. Growth in most countries were modest at 3 to 4% in 2Q 2008 except for slightly better compared to the growth in Thailand (10%) and Philippines (7%). HP, Epson and Canon remained the key stakeholders in the inkjet cartridge market with a combined unit market share of 90%. The growing proportion of inkjet MFPs installed in the market generates more printing activities with the added scan, copy and fax functions. Additionally, with more printers capable of producing lasting photo quality print-outs, users are presented with more opportunities to print. These helped to support the steady growth of the ink cartridge market and also withstand the impact of the gradual switch from inkjet to laser products in the recent years.
Over the next five years, IDC expects the laser toner market to register a CAGR of 16% in terms of unit shipment. The CAGR for the ink supplies market is projected to be slower at 5%. Color adoption will be driving the growth for both the markets in the forecast period.
Asia/Pacific Printer Consumables Market Forecast (unit shipments)
Source: IDC, Sep 2008
In Singapore, original vendors are enjoying very high loyalty rates in the toner space. About 4 in every 5 of the toner cartridge shipped are originals. This is much higher than the overall toner loyalty rate of 59% for the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region. Loyalty rates are below 50% in the PRC (46%) and India (39%), which have a higher composition of cost conscious users compared to the rest of the region. Original vendors have to be watchful as their increasing laser installed base will also attract more third party players, who are also eyeing on a share of the revenue.
The loyalty rate for inkjet cartridges averaged about 62% for APEJ. Original vendors secured at least two thirds of the ink cartridge market share in most countries but faced greater challenges in India, Indonesia, Korea and the PRC. Users in these countries are more willing to use third party products, especially low cost refill products/services. Original vendors seek to provide better value proposition to the end-users such as vibrant print quality, longer lasting prints, loyalty programs, low/high yield cartridges for occasional/frequent users etc., to garner users’ loyalty. On the other hand, apart from very competitive pricing, third party vendors have various products offerings such as continuous inking supply systems or “Do-It-Yourself” refills kits to attract the users. Users stand to benefit from this tug-of-war between the original and compatible players as they are presented with more choices.
The recent turmoil in the financial markets will inevitably impact on the printer consumables market. Particularly for countries such as India and the PRC where users are more price sensitive, this may provide opportunities to the non-original products. Printing activities in the home space will likely to be reduced, putting more pressure especially for the ink cartridge market. It is hence important for original vendors to find ways to counter the raising costs and provide better value preposition to the end-users such as introducing better efficient cartridges with lower cost per page. Additionally, original vendors will need to be vigilant against counterfeits products, which are often mixed with originals or gray products.
Notes to Editor
*IDC Asia/Pacific Quarterly Printer Consumables Tracker cover Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, PRC, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Numbers here exclude Hong Kong as IDC starts tracking Hong Kong this year.
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For press enquiries, please contact:
Shirley Teo
Research Manager, Asia/Pacific Peripherals Research
+65-6829-7767
[email protected]
Sasithorn Sae-iao
Marketing Executive
+66-26751-5585 Ext:113
[email protected]