A report from IDC said that values of hardcopy peripherals worldwide increased in the fourth quarter by 1.7 percent, bringing in revenues of $15.2 billion.
But although the value figure was up, unit shipments fell by 2.6 percent during the quarter, amounting to 30.8 million inits.
The laser segment grew for the whole year by 0.8 percent, and colour laser shipments grew, at the expense of monochrome lasers, where shipments fell.
Canon was number one during the fourth quarter, with most of its shipment growth coming from the US, Canada, Japan and Western Europe.
HP also saw shipments grow in the Canadian and Western European regions.
When the market is divided out, the fourth quarter shows that inkjet printers fell by 3.9 percent, while laser shipments increased by 0.2 percent.
A4 printers remain the dominant type with 78.4 percent unit share, compared to A3 printers with 21.6 percent unit share.
