Grey market hurting printer consumables
Grey market hurting printer consumables
Grey market activity is seriously impacting growth in the printer consumables market, according to a new report by analysts IDC.
Figures released by IDC revealed that in 2003, the printer consumables market achieved a total of 14 million units, representing a 4 percent growth in unit shipments year on year. This total figure includes original and compatible ink, laser toner and serial dot matrix ribbon cartridges.
IDC found that the ink cartridge market specifically grew by 5 percent in unit shipments year on year, reaching a total of 11 million units in 2003. The laser toner market remained stable from 2002 shipping a total of 2.9 million units in 2003. The increase in the two markets was mainly driven by ongoing end user promotions and channel incentives offered by the vendorsto encourage greater purchases from consumers and stock ups in the channel.
While the overall market had recorded growth for the year, it was much smaller growth than what the market expected.
"A significant reason for the small growth was due to active grey market activities since start of 2003. The continued strengthening of the Australian dollar had made purchasing terms from overseas more favourable for grey marketeers/parallel importers, affecting unit shipments growth in original printer consumables. To prevent the situation from worsening, printer vendors have taken action by imposing significant price reductions on their consumables and will continue to do so until the situation is under control", said Su-Lin Ng, IDC peripherals analyst.
IDC analysts predict that the price per cartridge projection for ink and laser toner in 2004 is expected to drop by 18 percent and 8 percent respectively year on year. From the printer vendors' angle, this has unintentionally intensified competition between the original and compatibles cartridge market in terms of pricing. Many compatible vendors have responded to the price reductions of original cartridges by also imposing aggressive price drops since Q4 2003 and more will continue to react towards the price initiative of printer vendors in 2004.
Despite the small surge in yearly unit shipments, IDC expects growth to continue in 2004. "The growth of parent markets such as multifunctional printers, photo printers and laser printers will fuel growth in the printer consumables market. Additionally, the ongoing competition between printer vendors and compatible vendors to fight for market share will besignificant drivers for the market", added Su-Lin Ng.
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