UK beats Western Europe average in Q3 printer sales

New Context figures see UK hold its own - although some countries fared much better

Shipments of printers to the UK through distribution expanded 5.5 per cent in the quarter ended 30 September, according to new figures from ICT sales tracker Context.

Against an overall Western European average of three per cent - representing a return to growth for the regional market in Q3 - the UK managed to move slightly ahead on the back of improved demand for both inkjet and laser printers.

"Looking at vendors performance, HP, Brother and Lexmark recorded double-digit year-on-year unit sales growth across Western European distribution in Q3 2014," said Zivile Brazdziunaite, imaging market analyst at Context.

"HP registered strong year-on-year distribution sales performance of 24 per cent in the inkjet MFP category and seven per cent in the Laser MFP category in Q3 2014."

The Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain topped the Q3 printer market, enjoying unit sales growth of 25 per cent, 22.5 per cent and 14.1 per cent respectively, while Norway, Ireland, Denmark and Finland brought up the rear, with sales down by 14.1 per cent, 16.6 per cent, 19.1 per cent and 19.5 per cent respectively.

"Brother and Lexmark saw year-on-year unit sales increase of 28 and 24 per cent respectively in the laser MFP and aser SFP categories in distribution for the quarter.

"Canon, Kyocera and Ricoh registered negative overall performance in Western European distribution, due to weak sales of laser SFPs; however, their year-on-year unit sales of laser MFPs increased in Q3 2014 by 20 per cent, 51 per cent and 32 per cent respectively," according to Context.