The enterprise printing market should have no problems recovering after the lockdown according to a Context report.
While sales of low-cost consumer products have boomed as workers looked to get hardware for their home offices things could be swinging back in the favour of enterprise print specialists.
Antonio Talia, Context’ head of business analysts said that with lockdowns easing, distributors should be prepared for the market to move away from consumers and back to the enterprise.
Revenues in the UK were down by 27.2 percent in May and unit shipments also dipped by 5.7 percent. Across Western Europe, the revenue split in May was 58.9 percent business to 41.1 percent consumer, compared to 73.1 percent business and 26.9 percent consumer in 2019.
Context found that unit sales to corporate resellers dropped by 39.4 percent year-on-year, and sales to e-tailers focused on serving businesses were down by 28 per cent across May in Western Europe.
Not everyone suffered, however, and retail chains saw a 2.2 percent improvement in sales, and e-tailers were up by 11.2 percent as home workers bought stuff. Many people bought printers to use for work and to support teaching kids at home. Inkjet MFPs were popular, with laser products – which are more favoured by enterprises – not benefiting from the lockdown meltdown.
Context warned that the past few months would have seen inventory levels rise in the channel and, as a result, there might be a few promotions to clear stocks once more normal levels of activity return to the enterprise print channel.
“Although the situation varies by country, the trends over the past couple of months are clear – consumer inkjet MFPs are performing well, business spending is down, and the market has shifted towards consumer printers. As offices begin to reopen, distributors should be anticipating a rebound in business sales in the second half of the year”, said Talia.
