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HCP shipments in the Indian market showed a growth in 2021 quarters, according to market reports. Inkjet printers especially were in great demand through the lockdown period and also after the lockdown was lifted. Other imaging devices also recorded a high growth in 2021.
According to an IDC report, India’s HCP market grew 38.5% Y-o-Y in Q1 and it further improved the performance in Q2 with 103.5% Y-o-Y growth in 2021.
“In CY20, the HCP (hardcopy peripheral) market stood at 2.9 million units but for CY21 and CY22, the projections are 3.5 million and 3.0 million units respectively,” says Bani Johir, Senior Market Analyst – IPDS, IDC India.
The consumer and SMB segment was driving the printer demands in India and not the enterprise segment. “In fact, 2021H1 grew by more than 60% over 2020H1 in (printers) volume shipment and about 43% in value. In terms of unit shipment, the Indian market saw strong demands from consumer/home and SMB segment,” says Johir.
The second half of 2021 saw a major shift towards ink tank printers within the inkjet segment compared to laser. “Owing to prolonged work from home and online classes for kids is driving significant printer demand particularly ink tank printers,” Johir points.
IDC India data revealed that the inkjet printers continued to witness high demand from home users, since schools/colleges and many offices were closed. As the stock availability of inkjet printers improved, the category grew 41.5% Y-o-Y in CY20 Q4 and 56.2% Y-o-Y in CY21 Q1, the highest Y-o-Y growth since 2000 Q1.
“This had led to reduced demand for laser printers and copiers. In FY20, the laser segment (including copiers) observed the sharpest Y-o-Y decline of 28.5% since 1997,” states Johir. The inkjet segment grew 71.9% Y-o-Y in Q2, 2021 as per the IDC report.
The HCP shipments market witnessed a growth of 164.8 per cent in the July-September quarter in 2021, compared to the previous quarter, as revealed by the IDC.
Due to problems in the supply chain, the ink tank segment noted a YoY decline of 6.9 per cent, yet it continued to increase its share over the ink cartridge segment from the same time a year ago. The laser segment (including the copier segment) suffered an even sharper YoY decline of 17.3 per cent following the drop in demand from the commercial segment.
The situation improved significantly as the lockdown was gradually lifted with some enterprises and SMBs resuming office operations with a limited workforce while a majority continued operating on work-from-home mode. The laser copier segment too witnessed a YoY decline of 36.8 per cent to date.
"Within the overall inkjet segment, ink cartridge-based printers also saw rising demand from smaller cities as a section of consumers did not want to pay the high price for ink tank printers. Indian HCP shipments market recorded its best Q4 till date in terms of unit shipments. The market registered shipments of 0.95 million units during the quarter, up 19.7% year-over-year (YoY), according to IDC.
the inkjet segment noted a YoY growth of 38.8%. Within inkjet printers, the ink tank printer segment grew steadily following improved availability and the pent-up consumer demand owing to continued work from home and e-learning for students.
The laser printers’ segment (including copiers) recorded a YoY growth of 3.8% at the back of laser printers (excluding copiers) as multiple delayed orders from the previous few quarters were executed in Q4. The laser copier segment, however, witnessed a YoY decline of 27.5% following muted demand from Corporates.
“Consumer Demand is expected to remain robust for the first half of 2021(1H21) while enterprise demand is expected to resume in a phased manner as employees return to office. Additionally, government demand is also expected to pick up in Q1 2021 as ministries and public sector enterprises exhaust their CAPEX quota, as the financial year ends. However, the supply challenges are expected to continue for the first half of the year, which can impact the demand fulfillment to some extent,” says Nishant Bansal, Senior Research Manager, IPDS, IDC India.