IDC beancounters have warned the printing industry that microchip shipments are likely to be “erratic” for the rest of the year forcing some to move to more black and white solutions.
Most OEMs are seeing demand outstrip supply, especially in higher-speed A4 and A3 colour segments where more microchips are required for manufacturing the products.
The company said that this will have a knock on impact on revenues, cash flow, and profits.
The analyst firm says its figures show that the overall Western European hardcopy market declined 2.6 percent year on year in the second quarter to 4.28 million units.
Inkjet shipments dropped by 2.2 percent in the second quarter, although consumer devices increased by 2.9 percent while business inkjet shipments declined sharply by 23.3 percent.
Laser shipments fell by 3.7 percent year on year in second quarter, colour shipments dropped by 13.8 percent while monochrome shipments increased three percent.
The IDC says UK shipments declined in line with the general growth patterns for Western Europe.
It claims some OEMs have now switched their attention to monochrome A4 printers as they contain fewer microchips and predicts full inventories are not likely to be available until 2023.
IDC senior programme director of Western European imaging, hardware devices and document solutions group Phil Sargeant said that although there will be some improvement in the forthcoming quarters, some OEMs are reverting to simple monochrome printers as these contain the least number of microchips and other components.
“This meaning more can be produced from a limited stock of parts and indicating the importance of the black-and-white page”, he said.
