Printer sales in Taiwan shrank in the third quarter, according to research by International Data Corp (IDC) published yesterday.
Single function printers (SFPs) sold a total of 97,243 units, a 10 percent decline from last quarter and a 24.2 percent drop from the same quarter last year.
In the multi-function printer (MFP) segment, laser MFPs sold 18,274 units from July through September, registering a retraction of 26.3 percent from last quarter and a 7.6 percent decrease year-on-year, the high-tech market research and consulting firm said.
Despite the lackluster sales for laser MFPs, inkjet MFP sales grew 8 percent from the previous three months, but its year-on-year performance still declined 11.6 percent.
“With the third quarter being the back-to-school season, printers typically enjoy a positive sales seasonality. But this time around, Taiwan consumers expressed reservation [in purchasing] printers due to pessimistic consumer sentiments around the world,” Joey Yen (嚴蘭欣), an analyst at IDC’s PC & Peripherals Group, said yesterday.
“Hence, many of them adopted a wait-and-see attitude towards printer purchases, driving down the overall printer sales in the third quarter,” Yen said.
Yen said that because of cost-cutting measures by corporations and the government, laser SFPs and MFPs reported sharp retractions in the third quarter.
IDC said that inkjet SFPs continued to be replaced by inkjet MFPs and laser alternatives, with third-quarter inkjet SFPs registering sales of a dismal 54,045 units, a 5.4 percent decrease quarter-on-quarter and an astounding 35.7 percent decrease year-on-year.
Epson Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) remain the top two inkjet manufacturers in Taiwan, with US camera maker Canon Inc closing in.
Meanwhile, laser SFPs declined 30.9 percent quarter-on-quarter and 17.1 percent year-on-year in the three months ending September for a total of 26,725 units.
The top four manufacturers in Taiwan are HP, Epson, Samsung Electronics Co and Fuji Xerox Co, which claim a 91 percent market share.
Laser MFPs sold a total of 18,274 units in the third quarter. The figure combines laser MFP A3 and laser MFP A4 models, IDC reported.
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