EMEA Printer Shipments Return To Growth In Q2, 2013

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EMEA Printer Shipments Return To Growth In Q2

Over the past two years, the imaging hardware market in the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) was on a slide. This ended during the second quarter of 2013, when a solid performance in Western Europe helped total EMEA printer shipments climb by 3% on the year.

by Joanne Herman

This is according to the latest market figures from UK-based research outfit Context. The long-awaited positive result came courtesy of the 8% increase in unit shipments across Western Europe. Within that region, three countries stood out by delivering double-digit growth during the second quarter. The countries in question are Germany, Spain and the UK. This can be attributed to encouraging signs of economic recovery across the eurozone, which is prompting companies to ditch their cost-cutting mindset and resume investment in technology.

The Middle East and Africa (MEA) also made a positive contribution, albeit a very modest one. Shipments in that region inched up by 1% in the period under report. The result also represents solid sequential improvement: during the previous quarter, MEA printer shipments registered a 17% year-on-year drop.

While Western Europe and MEA returned to the growth path, the situation remained unchanged in Central and Eastern Europe, Context said. Across this region, shipments fell by 9%. The primary reason for that was weakness in Russia, where printer shipments contracted by 10%. This substantial decline proved sufficient to wipe out gains recorded in other countries. Among those experiencing a revival during the second quarter were Poland, Hungary and Ukraine.

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September 17, 2013 at 11:39 AM