United States Printer and MFP Shipments Declined 4 Percent in Second Quarter of 2006

Gartner: Poor photo printer sales helped total printer and multifunction product (MFP) shipments in the United States to decline 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2006. Total U.S. printer and MFP shipments totaled 7.7 million units in the quarter. Inkjet printer and MFP shipments reached 5.5 million units, while page printer and MFP shipments reached 1.7 million units.

The decline in the U.S. printer and MFP market is happening for few reasons. Poor sales of single-function printers had a large impact on the market as higher numbers of users have begun to print photos at retail stores as they become more aware of their options. Secondly, many vendors have discontinued bundling free printer with PC or digital camera purchases, which has resulted in lower overall shipments.

Driven by poor sales of single-function printers, U.S. inkjet printer and MFP shipments declined 7.8 percent in the second quarter of 2006. HP continued to dominate the inkjet printer and MFP market in the second quarter with a 56.4 percent market share (see Table 1). HP and Canon were the only vendors in the top-tier to post positive growth in the quarter. Dell declined 51.3 percent because of its decision to discontinue free bundling programs of single-function inkjet and refocus its efforts on the more lucrative multifunction inkjet space.

Table 1 United States Inkjet Printer and MFP Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q06 (Units)

Company	2Q06 Shipments	2Q06 Market Share (%)	2Q05 Shipments	2Q05 Market Share (%)	Growth (%)
Hewlett-Packard	3,113,528	56.4	2,838,207	47.4	9.7
Lexmark	715,761	13.0	904,901	15.1	-20.9
Canon	577,178	10.5	505,448	8.4	14.2
Dell	442,750	8.0	909,200	15.2	-51.3
Epson	392,220	7.1	602,270	10.1	-34.9
Others	279,699	5.1	227,825	3.8	22.8
Total Market	5,521,136	100.0	5,987,851	100.0	-7.8

Source: Gartner Dataquest (August 2006)

The U.S. page printer and MFP segment increased 13.4 percent in the second quarter because of the success of low-end monochrome and color A4 format devices. HP also took the top spot in the page printer and MFP segment with 42.7 percent market share (see Table 2). Dell was in the No. 2 position with a 9.3 percent market share, followed by Brother with 7.6 of the market. Due to increasing presence on retail shelves, Brother increased 54.5 percent to move past Canon to become the No. 3 vendor in the page printer and MFP category.

Table 2 United States Page Printer and MFP Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q06 (Units)

Company	2Q06 Shipments	2Q06 Market Share (%)	2Q05 Shipments	2Q05 Market Share (%)	Growth (%)
Hewlett-Packard	753,254	42.7	610,862	39.7	23.3
Dell	163,450	9.3	163,100	10.6	0.2
Brother	134,391	7.6	87,000	5.7	54.5
Canon	130,002	7.4	122,116	7.9	6.5
Lexmark	98,963	5.6	84,901	5.5	16.6
Others	483,141	27.4	469,529	30.5	2.9
Total Market	1,763,201	100.0	1,537,508	100.0	14.7

Source: Gartner Dataquest (August 2006)

Multifunction color products were very successful in the second quarter of 2006, growing shipments by 48.7 percent over the same period last year. Gartner expects this market to continue to grow and to be very popular with small and midsize businesses (SMBs) that are in need of the convenience of color to produce marketing collateral and other business documents.

Gartner Dataquest's Printer Quarterly Statistics United States Publ 200600905