BEIJING, Nov. 1 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- CCID Consulting, China’s leading research, consulting and IT outsourcing service provider, and the first Chinese consulting firm listed in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Stock Exchange: HK08235), recently released its article on the changes taking place in the color LaserJet printer market and the increase in sales by 45.4% in Q3 year-on-year.
Market research done by CCID Consulting on Chinese printers in Q3 of 2007 showed that 1.9963 Million printers were sold in the 3rd quarter of 2007, an increase of 6.6% compared to the same period of last year. The sales revenue achieved was 2.59 billion RMB, an increase of 11.3% compared to the same period of last year.
Table 1 China printer market sales status and increasing percentage
in the 3rd quarter of 2007
Product category 2007Q3 2007Q3 Quantity Revenue
Quantity Sales increase increase
(in 10 revenue compared to compared to
thousands (in 100 the same the same
pieces) million RMB) period period
InkJet printer 134.09 9.11 0.4% 6.1%
LaserJet printer 43.30 11.03 17.0% 2.7%
Dot matrix printer 20.98 5.65 36.5% 47.5%
Misc. 1.06 0.11 3.9% 10.0%
Total 199.43 25.90 6.6% 11.3%
Source: CCID Consulting, October 2007
InkJet printer sales increased slowly as price cuts inspired enthusiasm for purchasing LaserJet printers
The third quarter is usually the busy season for selling consumer products, but the third quarter of this year has been a moderate season for InkJet printer sale. The summer promotions sale did not encourage more InkJet printer purchases and the usual major purchasers, students, were more attracted to cost effective integrated printers that have been enjoying increasing market popularity. Ergo InkJet printer sales only had a slight increase of 0.4%. However, InkJet printers are still important products for the manufacturers. One factor is the high profit margin from the future accessory supply sales. Another factor is that the InkJet printer is still the current mainstream product; especially the digital photo printing market which has been driving more sales of InkJet printers to home users. Therefore, digital photo printing will lead the sale of InkJet printers. As for the LaserJet printer market, the price reduction is the main promotion for LaserJet printers in the 3rd quarter. According to the statistics by CCID Consulting, the average unit price in the China LaserJet printer market is RMB 2550, reduced by 12.2% compared to the same period. Currently, there are several products with a unit price of below RMB 900 but newly released products enter the market with a lower price. The price reduction contributed to a fast increase of LaserJet printer sales. CCID Consulting statistics show an increase of 17.0% with 433K LaserJet printers sold in the 3rd quarter. The popularity of LaserJet printer exceeds the InkJet printer gradually. After a several years' slump adjustment, the dot matrix printer has rebounded to a certain extent, the market needs for product upgrades and replacements from finance, telecom, tax revenue and transportation industries is a contributing factor to the sale of more dot matrix printers. Moreover, CCID Consulting includes the statistics of passbook printers in this quarter. The sale of the dot matrix printer has significantly increased compared to the same period.
The color LaserJet printer is the market leader but the market is changing rapidly
While the entire printer market is gradually moving up from the bottom in sales, the color LaserJet printer has easily led the printer market. All positive factors like huge price reductions, color printing business development and consistent manufacturing promotions have caused the color LaserJet market to develop rapidly. "China printer market analysis report in the Q3 of 2007" illustrates that the total quantity of 60.2K color LaserJet printers were sold with an increase of 45.4% compared to the same period, which is the fastest increasing market of classified products in the current printer marketplace with a proportion of 13.9% in the entire color printer market.
Market focus attracts greater competition from more manufacturers. Currently most LaserJet printer manufacturers participate in the manufacturing of LaserJet printers, which makes the competition even hotter. Brand allocation is changing as the war of price, technology and channel building develops. Because the core technology of LaserJet printers is mastered by fewer and fewer manufacturers such as Samsung, Canon,
Konica-Minolta, those manufacturers have active rights and a corresponding top-notch market share, especially Samsung coming back to the 3rd position by counting on the strategy of lower pricing to attract more sales; but the OEM manufacturers shows the declining status pressured by price competition. The market share of manufacturers such as Lenovo and Epson shrinks gradually; Epson especially withdrew from the LaserJet printer market due to pressure from competition and difficulty turning a profit, whose market share is reduced to less than 2% in the 3rd quarter this year from 21% of same period in 2006.
Fast price reduction encouraged more purchases of the color LaserJet printer. Although the average unit price of RMB 6000 makes many potential buyers hesitate, the cost limitation will be improved as the large-scale output increases.
Figure 1 China color LaserJet printer sale and increasing percentage
in the 3rd quarter of the year 2005-2007
http://www.ccidconsulting.com/upload/12217.JPG
Source: CCID Consulting October 2007
Figure 2 The brand allocation of color LaserJet printer in the 3rd
quarter of 2007
http://www.ccidconsulting.com/upload/12218.JPG
Source: CCID Consulting October 2007
About CCID Consulting
CCID Consulting Co., Ltd (hereinafter known as "CCID Consulting" or "CCID"), the first Chinese consulting firm listed in the Growth Enterprise Market of the Stock Exchange (GEM) of Hong Kong (stock code: HK08235), is directly affiliated to the China Center for Information Industry Development (hereinafter known as CCID Group). Headquartered in Beijing, CCID Consulting has set up branch offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Harbin, with over 300 professional consultants and industry experts. The company's business covers over 200 large and medium-sized cities in China. Apart from home market development, CCID Consulting establishes international cooperation links across the United States, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe with agents in the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Australia, Singapore, Italy and Russia, with the aim of going global.
Based on four major competitive areas: powerful data channels, industrial resources, intense knowledge and a deep understanding of information technology, CCID Consulting provides customers with consulting, research and IT outsourcing services covering strategic planning, IT applications, marketing strategies, human resources and information technology outsourcing. Customers range from industrial IT users, telecommunications companies, energy companies, finance companies, and automobile companies, to government departments at all levels and diversified industrial parks. CCID Consulting commits itself to be the number 1 consultant in strategic consulting, the number 1 brand for strategic consultancy, the number 1 advisor for enterprise management and the number 1 consultant for government decision-making.
For more information, please contact:
Cynthia Liu
Coordinating Manager
CCID Consulting Co., Ltd.
Tel: +86-10-8855-9080
Email: liuyan@ccidconsulting.com
