The Romanian hardcopy peripherals market jumped by more than 84% year-on-year to almost 120,000 units valued at $32 million in the second quarter of 2007, announced IDC on 19 September. In quarterly terms, however, shipments were down almost 40% in comparison with the first three months of the year. The top three vendors – HP, Canon, and Lexmark – retained their leading positions, with a combined market share of over 77% in units and 45% in value.
“There were multiple reasons for the HCP market quarterly slowdown,” says Dana Samson, research analyst, IDC Romania. “Explosion of sales in Q1 2007, a lack of major projects in Q2 2007, as well as the early and extremely hot summer that forced potential buyers to spend on seasonal products to brave the heat, all contributed to the slump. However, the market started to recover in June and is expected to be back on course during the last two quarters of the year.”
Shipments of multifunctional devices (MFP) skyrocketed in annual terms in the second quarter of 2007, with the number of units up 137.5%. MFPs constituted just under a half of hardcopy market volume, almost on par with single-function printers which marginally exceeded 50% of the market after a 52% year-on-year growth of shipments. Shipments of single-function copiers dipped by a quarter and accounted for just 0.4% of the market in the second quarter.
As for printing technologies, the second quarter of 2007 saw a growth in popularity of monochromatic laser machines at the expense of inkjet technology, compared to the previous quarter. Inkjet continued to dominate the market, though, with a 62% market share. In year-on-year comparison, the segment expanded by more than 150%. Shipments of monochromatic laser devices were up 29.0% in Q2 2007, representing almost a third of the total hardcopy market volume. Color laser shipments expanded more than 63% compared to the second quarter of 2006, but this technology's market share only slightly exceeded 2%.
