Printer market stalls as HP maintains dominance

HP continues to lead the large format printer market without close competition, despite a steady decline in customer spending during the third quarter of 2019.

According to IDC findings, shipments declined by roughly 0.5 per cent compared to the previous quarter, with little movement among the top three large format printer manufacturers. Specific to shipment market share, HP, Canon and Epson all maintained positions on a worldwide basis.

During the three-month period, HP accounted for 33.8 per cent of all large format shipments worldwide, followed by Canon with 19.4 per cent. Closely behind Canon is Epson with over 17 per cent of total shipments.

As reported by IDC, Epson is a leader in the low-end of the aqueous inkjet market, in the dye-sublimation segment and increasingly in the eco-solvent market.

In the third quarter, Epson introduced its first “eco-tank” large format printers, which the company claims will reduce ink cost by 20 per cent. According to IDC, this will be an “important area to watch” in 2020 and beyond. 

“While the large format printer market has been soft, there were some surprising areas of growth when we get into the breakdown by technology and region,” said Tim Greene, research director, IDC. “New products and aggressive marketing have driven growth in some technology segments, while application expansion continued to drive investments in UV and textile/soft signage printers.”

IDG-Owned