Shipments of hardcopy peripheral (HCP) products in EMEA should be back to pre-recession levels by 2011, predicts IDC.

HCP shipments fell 15.1 per cent last year because of the recession, said IDC, and it will take until 2011 for the market to return to its 2008 peak.

The market watcher added that it expects HCP shipment volumes in the EMEA region to enjoy a compound annual growth rate of 7.6 per cent between 2010 and 2014.

Julio Vial, research manager at IDC, said: "The exceptionally weak western European economic environment which persisted throughout 2009 drove down print spending in the region, though IDC does predict a gradual recovery through 2010 provided that key economies return to positive GDP growth."

The key growth area for the market, said Vial, would be the colour laser printer segment, which the IDC predicts will total 2.9 million shipments by 2014.