Printer-copier sales up in first half

The combined printer, copier and multifunctional product (MFP) shipments market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) totalled 23.4 million units in the first half of 2007, a 5.8% increase on the same period last year, says analyst Gartner.

Gartner said the market in EMEA will reach almost 54 million for the full year. The trend that saw shipments of copiers and MFP outnumber shipments of printers in the second half of 2006 continued strongly in the first half of 2007, said the analyst.

Copiers and MFP sales represented 53% of the total market. "Sales in this segment were primarily driven by serial inkjet MFP sales, which accounted for 41% of the total print market," said Cecile Drew, an analyst at Gartner.

In the serial inkjet market, Hewlett-Packard retained its position as market leader, accounting for almost half of the total market share. Kodak made its debut in this market introducing two new MFP devices in the second quarter of 2007 in Germany and the UK.

The top five printer, copier and MFP suppliers by shipments, in order, are HP, Canon, Epson, Lexmark and Brother.