India HCP market continues to grow at rate of 8.5% YoY

Indian HCP market continued the momentum by clocking a healthy year-on-year growth of 8.5 per cent in 2018Q1 shipping 885,826 units, as per the latest IDC Asia-Pacific Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, 2018Q1.

Inkjet shipments grew by 10.7 per cent year-on-year with overall shipments of 397,901 units, while laser printers including copiers saw a year-on-year growth of 12.5 per cent with overall shipments touching 435,491 units. India Laser market was the second-highest market in the entire Asia-Pacific region excluding Japan, unit wise. Continuing the demand impetus from GST implementation, Laser printers saw an increased traction from small and medium enterprises.

"Q1 traditionally sees strong demand from government and 2018Q1 was no different with the demand majorly coming from the Education segment through Government. Although the volume of government contracts has decreased, the frequency of orders has increased significantly. The demand for original copiers has increased due to Government clampdown on the reconditioned copier market by seizing shipments and cancelling licenses of distributors dealing in such products," says Bani Johri, Market Analyst, IPDS, IDC India.

"From an inkjet perspective, the ink tank market continued to rise steadily and now commands almost 70 per cent of the inkjet market. This can be majorly attributed to the launch of new ink tank models by leading vendors, targeted at SMBs and Home users, as well as increased promotional activities by them," adds Johri.

Top 3 Brand Highlights:

HP Inc. maintained its position as the overall market leader in HCP with a share of 39.2-per cent and a 3.3-per cent year-on-year growth. The launch of 6 new laser models, high traction for entry-level Laser segment and end-user focused promotions helped HP Inc. increase its dominance in the Laser HCP (Printer-based) market by 2.9 per cent over 2017Q4. It gained significant ground in Laser HCP (Copier-based) segment as well through increased channel presence. HP Inc. maintained its second position in the inkjet market with a market share of 29.3 per cent.

Epson sustained its second position in the HCP market by clocking 27.4-per cent year-on- year growth. It also continued its leadership in inkjet printer market by retaining its first position with a unit share of 50.3-per cent and a 29.7-per cent year-on-year growth, primarily due to the growth of its L-series models. Epson's focus on increasing its channel presence by incentivizing the regional distributors was the one of the key factors contributing to its market leadership in the inkjet category. Other contributing factors are boosting online presence of its entry-level segment and refreshing its portfolio.

Canon, recorded year-on-year growth of 3.5 per cent and occupied the third position in the HCP market. Laser copier leads the way clocking year on year growth of 32.6 per cent. It maintained its number one position in the copier market as well with 23.3-per cent unit market share. This trend is mainly attributed to Canon witnessing increased demand from the Government and its focus on championing the colour segment and high-speed copiers through channel development and training of its sales representatives. In the Inkjet market Canon saw a strong year on year growth of 31.8 per cent as a result of their increased promotional activities around inktank models.