UK defies rest of Europe with inkjet MFP sales

Sell-in levels to most major Western Europe countries declined in Q3 but the UK continued to see a one per cent increase driven by inkjet MFPs

Unit shipments of printer hardware to EMEA in Q3 2017 remained the same as those in the previous year as sell-in declined across all categories except for inkjet MFPs, according to analyst CONTEXT.

Sell-in to Western Europe accounts for more than 65 per cent of all printer hardware shipments to EMEA but the region registered a year-on-year decline of three per cent in Q3 2017 - after an increase in the previous quarter.

Falling sell-in levels of laser hardware, particularly laser SFPs, accounted for most of this, while unit shipments of inkjet MFP increased by one per cent.

Sell-in levels to most major Western Europe countries declined but the UK continued to see a one per cent increase driven by inkjet MFPs.

Germany registered a drop of eight per cent after a sell-in surge during the previous quarter, while performance in France was flat. Shipments to Spain and Italy declined by 10 per cent and 14 per cent respectively, due to weaker demand after strong growth in Q3 2016.

Performance in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) mirrored that of western Europe. The three per cent year-on-year decline was driven by falling sales of laser hardware while sell-in levels of inkjet MFPs continued to increase registering growth of eight per cent.

"The Middle East and Africa (MEA) continued to outperform other regions, with unit shipments increasing by 22 per cent, following a decline in the quarter last year", said Zivile Brazdziunaite, imaging market analyst at CONTEXT.

"There was positive performance in all categories, and sell-in levels of inkjet MFPs and laser SFPs were particularly high."