Hardcopy shipments dipped below 17 million in 2022

Western European shipments of hardcopy peripherals declined 4.1% year over year to 16.7 million units in 2022. Supply chain issues continue to hamper opportunities for most brands, especially in the consumer segment, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom, as some saw their shipments and revenues increase as they had adequate inventory to meet consumer and business demand.

Overall shipments for 4Q22 increased 13.2% year on year, but this wasn’t enough to record an annual increase as weak shipments in the first three quarters of the year meant that overall shipments declined. There were, however, some pockets of success with overall laser shipments increasing in 4Q22 and for 2022; the inkjet market showed an increase in 4Q22, but poor shipments in earlier quarters meant the market contracted for the year.

Highlights from the quarter and the year include:

Inkjet shipments increased by 13.2% in 4Q22 year on year, meaning that the overall 2022 market contracted by 4.1% year on year.

Inkjet shipments increased by 14.3% in 4Q22, but weak shipments earlier in the year meant that 2022 saw an overall decline of 5.7%. Consumer and business inkjets increased during the quarter but declined for the whole of 2022.

Laser shipments increased by 14.3% in 4Q22 as some brands had better inventory, and this led to overall 2022 shipments recording growth of 0.2%.

HP retains the overall market leadership with 33.6%. Canon and Epson both saw their shares increase, but Brother ‘s share remained flat. All compete in the high-volume markets.

The below chart shows the top four brands by unit shipments for the past five quarters.

CT Bureau