Local printer market almost triples

THE Philippine printer market almost tripled in the second quarter compared to the same period last year after factory production capacity improved.

The Philippine hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market, including inkjet, laser, and SDM or serial dot matrix printers, went up 195.7% year on year, the International Data Corp. (IDC) said in a press release on Wednesday.

“The improvement in the supply and production capacity of factories and demand slowdown that were affected by lockdowns last year, resulted to overall growth of the market,” IDC said.

The market grew just 19.4% compared to the preceding quarter.

IDC Philippines Market Analyst Lilibeth Agudo said the strict lockdown in the second quarter in 2020 affected overall printer shipment and demand, but there was a spike in demand for printers for home use for the rest of last year.

“Now over a year into pandemic, 2021Q2 (second quarter of 2021) presented a positive outlook across all segments as more industries were allowed to operate due to more relaxed quarantine restrictions and vaccine availability,” she said. “Postponed spending was revisited for both government and commercial segments, continuous demand from the consumer segment gave brands opportunity to bring in more shipments.”

Epson Philippines was the market leader in the second quarter of 2021 with 66.1% market share as shipments have normalized, driven by demand from consumer and education segments.

Brother International Philippines Corp. followed with 11% share, while Canon Philippines held the third spot at 10.4% market share. The inkjet market had dropped due to shipment delays after Canon’s factory was impacted by the Vietnam lockdown.

“As Philippines economy has started to see a sign of recovery, shipments are expected to show recovery in the coming quarters and next year, provided vendors are able to fulfill the shipment demand,” IDC Asia Pacific Senior Research Manager Mohit Raizada said.

“Growth in the SMB (small and midsize business) segment will be the key, as they were badly impacted by series of restrictions in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.”