Mono laser printer market price war

Stan Beer
Monday, 03 April 2006 17:30

IT Industry - Market

The entry level laser printer market in Australia exploded in Q4 2005, with vendors vying to generate excitement in the sub-A$200 category.
According to IDC Australia's latest hardcopy peripherals research, the single function mono laser printer market registered significantly increased activity in the entry-level space in Q4 2005.

"A substantial 27% of mono laser printers were sold in this price band in Q4, as compared to only 5% in Q3. It also led mono laser printer market to grow sequentially by 3% in Q4, beating an historical trend of a seasonal drop in shipments in the fourth quarter", said Rishi Ghai, peripherals analyst for IDC Australia.

According to IDC, price competition in the mono laser market comes at a time when buyers are increasingly considering purchasing colour single function printers and multi-function devices. IDC expects 2006 to be a relatively softer year for mono laser printers, as colour lasers continue to strengthen their share, helped by vendors' increasing focus on the colour segment and the declining price points. However, mono laser volumes will still continue to dominate the overall laser printer market.

The Top-5 vendor rankings in the overall single function laser printer market (comprising of both mono and colour devices) experienced some changes in Q4 2005 as compared to Q3. While HP continued to hold the highest share of shipments, Lexmark moved up two positions to occupy the second rank. In a close competition for the third rank, Kyocera Mita managed to outperform Brother. Samsung continued to hold the fifth rank, rounding out the Top-5 vendor tally.

IDC Top-5 Single Function Laser Printer Vendors, Q4 2005:

•    HP: 31.8%
•    Lexmark: 15.4%
•    Kyocera Mita: 11.8%
•    Brother: 10.7%
•    Samsung: 9.1%
•    Others: 21.2%