Shipments of large format printers continue to be the stellar performers in the graphic arts industry with numbers up last year, but revenue scarcely moved, reflecting ever tighter margins for suppliers.
Product mix changes and some very aggressive price promotions were held to be responsible for the revenue declines. Bargain basement deals in the final quarter of the year were a bonanza for customers but trimmed suppliers' margins, now selling more for the same amount of money.
According to Phoung Hang, program director, Worldwide LFP tracker IDC, the vast majority of the decline came from inkjet products, and with inkjet products a great deal of revenue is driven by the consumption of supplies.
In the graphics sector wide format graphics printer shipments grew 2.1% year in 2014. Continued decline in the conventional aqueous inkjet printer market was offset by growth in the Latex, eco-solvent, due-sublimation, and UV-curable inkjet printer market segments.
Toner-based wide format printers continued to decline in the CAD/Technical printer market segment but inkjet printer shipments more than made up for the fall. Overall, the segment grew more than 4% worldwide in 2014.
Vendor Highlights
For the year, the top five suppliers to the wide format printer market remained unchanged, but within the segments there were small changes in market share among the vendors.
- HP finished 2014 as the global leader in the wide format market. HP's strong performance in the technical market and dominance in the Latex segment have driven growth in HP's market share both in the fourth quarter and for 2014 in total.
- Canon maintained its number 2 position among wide format printer manufacturers with 20% market share based on worldwide shipments.
- Epson was the number 3 worldwide supplier to the wide format digital printer market in 2014 and is seeing growth in its new dye-sublimation and technical printers.
- Roland was the fourth-ranked supplier to the worldwide large format printer market based on its strength in the eco-solvent business and growing presence in the UV-curable and dye-sublimation markets.
- Ricoh's strength in the wide format toner-based market, combined with its growing technical inkjet printers, give it the number five spot among wide format digital printer manufacturers.
The top five wide format printer manufacturers make up more than 80% of global wide format shipments, but only two-thirds of revenue. With manufacturers like HP, Canon, and Epson dominating the aqueous segment, this points to the maturity of the conventional aqueous graphics and solvent inkjet markets and the fragmented nature of the wide format UV-curable inkjet segment.
Worldwide Large Format Printer Shipments, Shipment Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, 2014 (shipments in thousands)
| Vendors | 2014 Shipments | 2014 Market Share | 2013 Shipments | 2013 Market Share | 2014/2013 Growth |
| 1. HP | 130.9 | 40.9% | 122.8 | 39.7% | 6.5% |
| 2. Canon | 63.9 | 20.0% | 56.9 | 18.4% | 12.2% |
| 3. Epson | 61.7 | 19.3% | 62.8 | 20.3% | -1.8% |
| 4. Roland | 10.9 | 3.4% | 11.1 | 3.6% | -1.5% |
| 5. Ricoh | 8.3 | 2.6% | 8.6 | 2.8% | -2.7% |
| Others | 44.4 | 13.9% | 47.0 | 15.2% | -5.6% |
| Total | 320.1 | 100.0% | 309.3 | 100.0% | 3.5% |
Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Large Format Printer Tracker, February 2015