‘African hardcopy peripherals shipments grew 17.7% in Q1 2014’

The shipments of hardcopy peripherals (HCP) to the African market grew by 17.7% in the first quarter of 2014 compared with the same quarter in 2013, a new report has revealed.

According to the recently-released Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker for Q1 2014 by the International Data Corporation (IDC), Africa has become a key growth market for this business segment.

“Africa is proving to be one of the fastest growing regions in the world for hardcopy peripherals,” says Ashwin Venkatchari, senior program manager for imaging, printing, and document solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.

This is driven by “increased investments in the development of IT infrastructure in most parts of the continent are driving demand for hardcopy peripherals. Much of the region has traditionally been serviced through unofficial imports; however, some vendors have already started to invest in local channel development. And these investments are now beginning to show rich dividends.”

According to the report,  shipments to Africa increased 26.1% in Q1 2014, compared with the same quarter in 2013, to a total of 281,000 units, while revenues grew at 25.2%. Inkjet devices that cost below $100 (16,600 Naira) drove the market.

Incidentally, devices that cost above $400 (66,400 Naira) reported the most aggressive growth, which contradict the belief that Africans love cheap things.

Mono laser shipments rose by 11.3% over the same period to a total of 227,000 units but with a fall in revenues by 1.3% as vendors implemented price cuts across all speed segments to remain competitive in the marketplace. Colour laser shipments grew 18.2% over the same period to a total of 42,800 units with a 28.7% growth in revenues as manufacturers increased their prices to offset the losses incurred in the mono laser space.

Serial dot matrix (SDM) shipments decreased by 18.3% in Q1 2014 compared with the same period in 2013. The report attributed this to the migration by enterprise customers to inkjet and laser devices and an increase in unofficial imports.