IDC reports on MFP market
return to office sales slowed by COVID-19 variants & supply shortages
- Geoffrey Wilbur, research manager for IDC’s Imaging, Printing, and Document Solutions, explained that: “As workers returned to the office in 2021, shipments of desktop inkjet and lower-speed laser A4 MFPs favored by homes and home offices predictably declined
- “Likewise, sales of the higher-speed A3 devices used in offices rebounded. However, supply-chain issues muted market growth in the second half of the year, as supply has been unable to keep pace
with demand.” - “Supply-chain disruptions upended the printer market’s nascent recovery in 2021, with printer supply insufficient to meet demand as offices began to reopen.
- “Vendors retrenched, focusing on higher-priced, higher-margin devices in an attempt to salvage profitability. Vendors that acted earliest to solidify supply chains fared better, but all vendors experienced inventory shortages.”