Worldwide hardcopy peripheral shipments plummeted 17 per cent year-over-year to 32.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2008.

According to research firm IDC, shipment revenue decreased by 13 per cent to $15.0 billion during the same period.

'IDC expects the market to bottom out in 2009, in response to the international economic crisis and then start a recovery in 2010,' said Alyson Frasco, director, US hardcopy peripheral trackers & forecasts.

Phuong Hang, an IDC programme manager, explained that vendors were likely to employ various strategies in an effort to survive the recession.

'Over the next year, vendors will employ several strategies to weather the downturn. The battle will continue in the channel as vendors seek to gain go-to-market strength and capacity. Vendors will also focus on offering cost-cutting and productivity enhancements to customer's existing document infrastructure as well as driving managed print services,' added Hang.

IDC figures indicate that the inkjet market remained dominant in 4Q08, but also experienced negative 18 per cent year-over-year growth. Monochrome laser was the second largest technology segment with 7.2 million units shipped and posted negative year-over-year growth of 17.3 per cent. The colour laser market was the only segment not to record a decline during the fourth quarter. X

 Worldwide Hardcopy Peripherals Market Share and YoY Growth

Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker, February 2009

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