"2009 remained another low performing year in EMEA as printing devices sales declined every quarter this year," said Sharon McNee, principal analyst at Gartner. Overall end-user spending also declined by 21% from €14.4 billion in 2008 to €11.3 billion in 2009, as a result of tighter credit controls by banks and cuts in IT spending by businesses as well as consumers.

Many organisations are still delaying the purchase of new products as cost containment policies remain intact with a focus on cost reduction. However, colour devices registered a 5% growth in 2009 as A4 colour MFPs continued to do well. The decline in A3 copiers/printers was steeper when compared to A4, as organisations continued to further balance their printing needs with the capacity of the printing device. However, A4 MFPs will continue to be the preferred device for distributed printing needs.

Each of the top five vendors saw a decline in 2009. HP remained the market leader in the EMEA printer, copier and MFP market, but registered the worst decline at 21% year-on-year. Canon, ranked No. 2, continued to perform well in the A4 segment. Samsung Electronics posted the lowest market decline at 2% in 2009, which helped it maintain its No. 2 position in the page market, led by HP.



Gartner does not expect the EMEA printer, copier and MFP market to return to growth in 2010.
"The printer, copier and MFPs market is competing for scarce disposable income, coupled with a relatively low demand from businesses and consumers to replace existing devices," said Ms McNee.

"Although the economic recession has accelerated interest in managed print services (MPS) for organisations that seek long-term cost savings, MPS are mainly adopted by large organisations. Vendors also need to educate small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in bringing their print environments up-to-date with their MPS offerings and associated long-term benefits."