October 29, 2003
Transition to Digital Copiers Nearly Complete
Transition to Digital is Nearly Complete in Worldwide Copier Shipments, Creating New Basis for Competition, According to IDC.
FRAMINGHAM, MA, October 28, 2003 -- In a flat worldwide copier market, the growth opportunity is in black-and-white digital copiers where shipments are projected to expand from 2.9 million units in 2002 to over 4.5 million units in 2007. According to a new IDC worldwide copier market forecast, analog copiers will virtually disappear from U.S. and Western Europe shipments in the next several years.
This trend will occur in other parts of the world, including Asia/Pacific and Eastern Europe, later in the forecast period. It is within the digital segment where growth will occur in the worldwide copier market, and this will change the basis for competition from a product focus to a solutions and services focus.
“For most regions, the transition to digital from analog copiers has already occurred. The race to sell connected digital copiers is well underway as copier vendors compete with printer vendors for page volume,” said Keith Kmetz, program director, Hardcopy Solutions and Services for IDC. “The focus now is customer segmentation and solutions and services wrapped around the device.”
Key Findings
While the total worldwide copier market is projected to be mature during the forecast period, pockets of growth have been identified for black-and-white digital copiers (9% CAGR) and for color copiers (18% CAGR) through 2007.
The ROW region shows the highest growth for black-and-white digital copiers at 17% during the forecast period.
Canon holds the highest worldwide black-and-white copier market share at 38%. Ricoh and Xerox follow Canon with second and third share ranks, respectively.
Color laser copier shipments will increase from 209,000 units in 2002 to more than 480,000 units in 2007. The Western European region shows the highest growth for color laser copiers during the forecast period at a 25% CAGR during this time.
The majority of vendors have already transitioned to a predominantly digital product line.
IDC's Worldwide Copier Forecast and Analysis, 2002-2007 (IDC #30243) quantifies the worldwide copier market opportunity in detail and analyzes issues and trends for 2002-2007. It includes both analog and digital copier forecasts separately and combined for a total market view. Unit shipment, value of shipments, and average selling price (ASP) information is presented. Data for 2001-2002 is actual and includes market share tables for analog, digital and color copiers while the data for 2003-2007 is projected. A high-level view of regional activity is offered for analog and digital copiers, and color laser copiers in the United States, Western Europe, and the rest of the world (ROW) as well as a worldwide rollup. A detailed worldwide forecast for units, value, and average selling price is included as well.
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