Printer output increases in 2004

The Australian printer market has grown by 10 percent this year, shipping close to half a million units since 1 January, according to a report by research firm IDC.

Laser printers have been the star attraction of 2004, and consumers are turning away from inkjet single function printers to inkjet multi-function units, IDC said. [Corrected from previous version].

According to IDC, a total of 430,000 units had been shipped in Q1 2004 in Australia, an improvement of 33 percent, compared with Q1 2003.

'The overall growth in the market mainly came from the vendors' pricing and promotional initiatives to push demand in the various segments of the printer market for the start of the new-year,' said Su-Lin Ng, IDC printer analyst

According to the report, the colour-laser market showed the strongest growth (34 percent), hitting 9000 units in 2004. This was closely followed by the mono laser printer market, which registered a 27 percent growth, shipping 54,000 units.

Ng said that the strong growth in the colour laser market had also been helped by attractive promotional incentives by vendors coupled with aggressive price reductions.

According to Henrik Stensfeldt, managing director of Lexmark Australia & New Zealand, small to medium businesses were the most receptive to the colour laser market.

'The price drops of the printers would have been the key there. Now it is coming down to a point where smaller organisations can defend that kind of expenditure,' he said.

Stensfeldt said that volume was the key factor when deciding between a colour laser or an inkjet.

'I definitely think that prices will still come down for colour lasers. But for limited home usage needs, you'd still be choosing an inkjet printer. For home use, inkjets have a lower total cost of ownership,' he said.

'At higher volumes, the cost per page is better with the colour laser,' he added.

The report also revealed that consumers now preferred multifunction inkjet printers (MFPs) over single function units (SFPs). The MFP market registered 19 percent growth while the SFP market actually declined 2 percent since last 2003.

Stensfeldt said that MFP devices were becoming popular among less technologically savvy users, who are able to scan, print and copy with the touch of a button, instead of using multiple devices and software.

IDC revealed that serial dot matrix (SDM) printers also registered significant growth at 33 percent. Stensfeldt said that SDM printers were almost exclusive to industrial sector.

IDC expected the printer market growth to continue into the second quarter of 2004.

'Competitive pressures from the colour laser printer and inkjet MFP market will play significant roles in driving positive growth in the quarter,' said Ng.

'Vendors have indicated that pushing colour laser printers will be a major focus and the introduction of a series of new models with competitive prices should increase the demand of the channel and end users in the market space,' she said.

Despite the strong growth, Stensfeldt said he did not believe that lasers would replace inkjets in the near future.

'The colour laser technology is a very expensive technology to manufacture. The inkjet is a very simple technology,' he said.

'If you look at the quality you achieve with inkjet printers today -- you are far from achieving that kind of quality with laser printers.'