http://www.arnnet.com.au/article/318160/australian_printer_market_slides
AUSTRALIA PRINTER MARKET SINKS !
Inkjets rise slightly in Q2 but laser printers continue to fall with little hope of 2009 recovery
The
Australian laser printer market continues to slide, with sales down 6
per cent in Q2 compared to the previous quarter, according to new
market figures from IDC.The analyst group’s program manager for IT
hardware research and consulting, Rishi Ghai, said year-on-year sales
for single-function laser printers dropped by 38 per cent. This
contradicts the sales spike traditionally experienced between Q1 to
Q2.“We are seeing signs of improvement in terms of vendors reporting
some buying activity from their clients, but it’s still slow and it’s
cautious,” he said.
Inkjet printers performed better with sales
up a modest 3.7 per cent in quarter-on-quarter results, but
year-on-year results were down 19.1 per cent.“A lot of vendors felt
immense pressure from the economy and the declining [Aussie] dollar
value and had to increase their prices,” Ghai said. “The dollar value
is increasing, but I think the vendors will take some time to revise
their prices downwards. It’s not going to happen quickly.“You could say
2009 is the year of decline. The extent of decline will reduce in 2010
and it may revert to positive growth by the time we reach 2011.”The
printer results differ sharply from the positive server sales data from
Gartner, which showed Australia beating the global trend and doubling
revenue between Q1 and Q2.