HP continued to lead the printer market in India with 48.9% shipment share in CY 2013, followed by Canon with 19.1% share. Epson and Ricoh continued to be at third and fourth position respectively but Ricoh entered at fifth position in CY 2013. Ricoh was able to bag a few key Government special projects which fueled its growth in the India printer market in CY 2013.

The strong focus on Inkjet models by HP, powered by Ink Advantage, and Canon by the wide range of lower-end inkjet printers has kept the market strong even in such weak economy.

The Inkjet HCP market grew marginally by 0.9% in CY 2013 compared to CY 2012 in terms of unit shipments. HP witnessed an overall marginal decline of 0.2% in Inkjet shipments but its focus on the Ink Advantage series was higher resulting in higher profitability for HP.

For Canon too, Laser was comparatively weak but its Inkjet business recorded 20%+ year-on-year growth. HP remained the market leader with 58.9% market share followed by Canon and Epson with 23.5% and 15.4% market share, respectively.

Figure I: Vendor Share - India HCP * Market, CY 2013 (% of Shipments)

Mohit further added, “Due to price inflation (because of currency fluctuation) and weak consumer sentiments demand in the Inkjet market was low in the first half of CY2013 but price correction, consumer and channel promotions and aggressive push from vendors resulted in higher shipments in second half of 2013 and as a result the overall Inkjet market could manage a marginal growth of less than 1%.”

In the Laser segment, Laser HCP (Printer-based) market grew with 2.1% in terms of unit shipments in CY 2013 when compared to total shipments in CY 2012. There were only a few special projects in the Laser segment which supported this marginal growth but buying sentiments in the other segment were weak and adding to it was the currency fluctuation which also affected the laser market negatively.

“Although Laser market didn’t perform as expected, the share of Multi Function Printer went up to 47% in CY 2013 and this is further expected to go up in the coming years,” added Mohit.

Here too, HP was the market leader with 52.3% market share followed by Canon and Samsung with 18.3% and 12.4% respectively.

After a very high growth last year, Laser HCP (Copier-based) declined marginally by 0.6% in CY 2013 when compared to the CY 2012 in terms of unit shipments. Canon lead the Copier-based Laser market with 26.1% market share followed by Ricoh and Konica Minolta with 20.7% and 17.4% market share.