Q4 could be challenging for India printer mkt, sees 6.5 pc fall in Q3: IDC

The fourth quarter of 2019 and the first half of next year could be "challenging" for hardcopy peripherals (HCP or printer) market in India as "negative economic sentiment" is likely to impact consumer and commercial demand, according to research firm IDC. India's Hardcopy Peripherals market fell 6.5 percent to 1.03 million units in the July-September 2019 quarter, impacted by the decline in inkjet and laser printers segments, IDC said.

However, the shipment grew by 22.6 percent compared to the second quarter of 2019, IDC said in its Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, CY3Q19 report. "We should expect challenging market conditions in Q4 2019 and possibly H1 2020 as the negative economic sentiment will likely impact both consumer and commercial demand," IDC India Senior Research Manager, IPDS, Nishant Bansal said.

High level of channel inventory and weak consumer sentiment are going to be the main factors which will have an impact on shipments in the fourth quarter of 2019, he said, adding that the corporate market demand, however, may see partial recovery owing to recent corporate tax cuts announced by the government. IDC said after two years of consistent year-on-year growth, the inkjet segment declined by 3.8 percent due to sluggish consumer demand, despite the July-September period being the quarter wherein online channel partners stock up high volumes for the festive season online sales.

"Barring Q2 2017, which was largely impacted by the then-upcoming GST launch, the ink tank segment saw the lowest y-o-y growth of 0.3 percent," it added. The laser segment occupied the lowest market share till the date of 37.8 percent, owing to the migration of users to the ink tank segment and weak demand from SMBs and MSEs due to credit issues they continue to face with banks, IDC said.

Overall, the laser segment witnessed a yo-y decline of 13.5 percent, it added. "While the yo-y growth seems challenging, the situation improved from a q-o-q perspective. The inkjet market grew q-o-q by 35.3 percent in preparation for the upcoming festive season," IDC India Market Analyst IPDS Bani Johri said.

There was an increase in demand from the government and the corporate sector, Johri added. "Interestingly, the single-function printers grew significantly y-o-y while its multi-function counterpart declined, a trend not observed in the last 19 quarters. This was a conscious move from vendors in order to flush out the inventory of single-function printers through partner schemes and flash online sales," Johri said.

HP Inc (excluding Samsung) maintained its leadership in the HCP market with a share of 38 percent, followed by Epson (26.1 percent) and Canon (23.5 percent).