APAC printer consumable market hit by Thailand’s political turmoil: IDC

  • Market declined 4.6% YoY to reach US$1.65bil in Q4 2013
  • 3rd-party brands contributed US$370mil, or 22% of total

APAC printer consumable market hit by Thailand’s political turmoil: IDCTHE printer consumable market in the Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region declined 2.4% sequentially and 4.6% year-on-year to reach US$1.65 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to IDC.
 
Although the printer consumable market posted growth in large economies like mainland China, South Korea and Indonesia, seasonal factors affected market in countries like Australia, the research and analyst firm said in a statement.
 
However, the biggest shock came from Thailand as political instability affected channels as well as consumers' business sentiments, and the market posted a strong decline – a quarter-on-quarter decline of 30% and year-on-year decline of 20%.
 
Out of the total consumable market, third-party brands contributed nearly US$370 million, which is approximately 22% of the total value.
 
While OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are gaining market share in the ink cartridge market because of economical and high-yield ink cartridges, on the other hand, third-party vendors are gaining share in the laser toner market.
 
Third-party vendors are expanding their presence within the countries of their presence and are also looking for expansion across borders, IDC said.
 
“Third-party vendors are now changing their business model and emerging as solution providers rather than mere box-pushers,” said Pankaj Chawla, research manager at IDC Asia/Pacific.
 
“[They] are offering free printers, printers on rent, maintenance and repair services along with cartridges. They are also entering the BPS/ MPS(Basic Managed Print Services) business and offering solutions like pay per page, pay per cartridge and volume commitment options.
 
“Some third-party vendors are scaling up their business model by partnering with software vendors and offering remote operating of printers through MPS,” Pankaj added.
 
OEMs have gained share in the ink cartridge market as printers with lower cost of operations and cartridges with high page yield at economical prices have helped them.
 
OEMs are also gearing up for the laser toner market and extending Managed Print services for their channel partners.
 
However, there is still a considerable price gap between OEM and third-party toner cartridges, and in value-sensitive Asia, third-party vendors are favourite among consumers as well as commercial enterprises, IDC said.
 

APAC printer consumable market hit by Thailand’s political turmoil: IDC

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