Gartner Says All-in-One Printer Shipments Drove Latin American Printer Market to 6 Percent Growth in Second Quarter of 2003.

Business Editors

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 27, 2003

A substantial surge in the all-in-one (AIO) printer segment propelled the overall Latin America printer market to grow for the first time since the second quarter of 2001, according to Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). Printer shipments in Latin America totaled 1.3 million units in the second quarter of 2003, a 6 percent increase from the same period last year. AIO printers grew 191 percent, representing 12 percent of the overall market.

"Continued price declines and a wider range of AIO offerings are giving single-function printers a run for their money," said Federico De Silva Leon, industry analyst for Gartner's Computing Platforms Latin America group. "The AIO segment continues to grow as more vendors, such as Epson and Dell, have entered the market. During this period, 74 percent of AIO shipments were in the sub-$199 category, up from virtually no shipments during the same time a year ago, a clear indication of a market shift in favor of these devices."

Hewlett-Packard tightened its grip on the top spot with 47.6 percent of the Latin American printer market (see Table 1), HP's AIO devices grew 349 percent in Latin America. Epson finished the second quarter of 2003 in second place with 22 percent market share. Lexmark, the only top-tier vendor to suffer a decline, was the No. 3 vendor with 16.3 percent of the market.

Table 1
Latin America Printer Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q03 (Units)

                        2Q03      2Q03      2Q02      2Q02
Company              Shipments   Market  Shipments   Market    Growth
                                Share (%)           Share (%)    (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hewlett-Packard       648,063      47.6   542,652      42.2      19.4
Epson                 303,592      22.3   298,955      23.2       1.6
Lexmark               222,414      16.3   258,153      20.1     -13.8
Canon                 152,025      11.2   141,637      11.0       7.3
Oki Data                9,227       0.7    11,501       0.9     -19.8
Others                 25,697       1.9    33,524       2.6     -23.3
Total               1,361,018     100.0 1,286,422     100.0       5.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: Table includes inkjet all-in-one units.
Source: Gartner Dataquest (August 2003)

The page printer market (laser-class products) continued to perform well, growing 79 percent in color and 12 percent in monochrome shipments. The sub-$300 segment grew 160 percent, as many new products were introduced in this lower-segment of the market, a critical point for small business as well as many home office users.

"The single-function inkjet segment continues to struggle as a result of AIO's growth, posting a decline of 3 percent in the second quarter of 2003. This segment carries small margins for resellers and distributors, while AIO devices offer better margins" De Silva Leon said. "In addition, supplies for these multifunction devices add to the level of overall profitability channels may generate."

After struggling in 2002, Argentina's printer market is recovering quicker than expected. Improved socioeconomic conditions helped the industry to grow 247 percent in the second quarter of 2003.

Despite a 3 percent decline in shipments, Brazil was the No. 1 country for printer shipments. "The ongoing widening gap between PC and printer shipments in Brazil is presenting a problem for printer vendors, as more branded PC manufacturers are exiting the retail space," De Silva Leon said. "This means that printer vendors have to rethink their strategies in order to reach thousands of consumers siding with white-box PC manufacturers."

Mexico was the second-largest printer market in the region with 23.5 percent market share in the second quarter of 2003. Mexico posted 8 percent growth despite soft economic activity, higher unemployment and a reduction in government spending. Mexico also represents the largest AIO market for printer vendors with 546 percent growth.

The Andean countries of Chile, Colombia and Peru continue to perform well with growth of 11 percent, 33 percent and 52 percent, respectively. The results are in line with the official GDP quarterly growth reported by these countries.

This information is produced by Gartner's Computing Platforms Latin America group. The group provides research on key aspects of the dynamic PC, server and printer hardware markets in Latin America. The focus is on regional and country issues in the top eight Latin American markets and the Rest of Latin America (ROLA) category, where Central American and Caribbean countries are grouped. To subscribe to this program, please call 408-468-8000.

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