Gartner Says Worldwide Printers, Copiers and Multifunction Products Shipments to Increase 8 Percent in 2005
Analysts Say Color Products Will Be Key Growth Segment for the Industry
STAMFORD,
Conn.,
August 17, 2005 — Worldwide printer, copiers and
multifunction products (MFP) shipments are projected to surpass 124.7 million
units in 2005, a 7.8 percent increase from 2004 shipments, according to Gartner,
Inc. Worldwide revenue for these products is forecast to surpass $59.7 billion,
up 4.5 percent from last year.
Gartner analysts said manufacturers are focused on transitioning their customers
from monochrome devices to color. The color laser printer market and the color
laser MFP segments will be the high growth areas.
"Vendors need a broad family of color products to replace the large installed
base of monochrome printers, copiers and MFPs," said Peter Grant, research vice
president in Gartner's Digital Document and Imaging group. "The monochrome to
color transition will be a significant event, as large vendors fight to keep
their installed base, while other vendors look to grow their business with color
offerings."
Less than 6 percent of the pages printed in the office are color pages. While
the color segment offers promising opportunities, manufacturers face the
challenge of getting corporations to transfer to color devices.
"Businesses are concerned about the high cost per page for color, and they worry
about losing control of high printing costs when migrating to color," Mr. Grant
said. "Color is still a 'nice to have' feature, versus a 'need to have' option
for many companies. However, photographs, color charts, graphics imaging, and
the Internet are driving the need to print in color. Many documents lose their
impact and message if they are not printed in color."
In the consumer segment, digital photography is driving demand for color
devices. "Higher resolution cameras, more sophisticated users, and the desire to
print in the home have many manufacturers improving their product offerings to
provide easier to use, faster photo printers, and lower prices," Mr. Grant said.
Worldwide sales of printer, copiers and MFPs will continue steady growth through
2009. By the end of 2009, worldwide shipments are forecast to surpass 148.9
million units, while revenue will exceed $60.7 billion.
Additional information is available to subscribers of Gartner's Digital
Documents and Imaging Worldwide program. This program provides insight into the
market dynamics driving the document management input and output devices
including, copiers, printers, facsimile machines, multifunction products,
scanners, digital cameras and related software. The program delivers forecasts
by major geographies, as well as detailed market trends and analysis.