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Dataquest Reports Asia/Pacific Printer Market Posted 45 Percent Growth in the Third Quarter; China Becomes Largest Printer Market in Region Outside of Japan
Business Wire - December 10, 1997 15:25
%DATAQUEST GART %CONNECTICUT %COMPUTERS %ELECTRONICS %COMED V%BW P%BW
HONG KONG--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 1997--Driven by the success in the ink jet printer market, Asia/Pacific printer shipments reached 1.8 million units during the third quarter of this year, which is up 45 percent over the third quarter of 1996, according to Dataquest, a market research unit of Gartner Group Inc. (NASDAQ:GART). Ink jet printers continue to dominate the region's printer market, accounting for about 62 percent of the third-quarter shipments.
"The glut of low-end ink jet models available for under U.S.$200 with similarly strong features and priced within a few dollars of one another, continues to drive printer volume in the expanding home and small business markets across the region," said Lane Leskela, senior industry analyst for Dataquest's Asia/Pacific Printer and Channels program. "In spite of the currency problems now faced in the markets of Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia, some large countries in the region are doing well. China and India began absorbing rather enormous quantities of entry-level ink jet and page printers while continuing to support impact printer demand during the third quarter."
Despite the economic slump in specific markets this year, Dataquest projects a healthy year for the overall printer market in the region. The Asia/Pacific printer market is on pace to grow more than 20 percent in 1997 with shipments forecast to reach 6.4 million units. Dataquest analysts attribute this strong growth to consistent industrial modernization in the largest emerging economies, and continued growth in the home and SOHO markets in the region's major metropolitan areas.
The five largest printer markets in Asia/Pacific were responsible for nearly 73 percent of the region's shipments in the third quarter. China became the region's leader for the first time, accounting for more than 22 percent of the shipments. Korea was the No. 2 country with 19 percent market share, followed by Australia with more than 14 percent of the market, Taiwan with 10 percent market share, and Malaysia with more than 6 percent of the region's shipments.
The top three printer vendors in Asia/Pacific were responsible for more than 71 percent of the shipments in the third quarter. Hewlett-Packard retained the No. 1 position in the region by continuing to dominate the less the 12 ppm monochrome laser segment, while effectively pushing its increasingly popular ink jet models with creative promotions and competitively low prices. Epson held the No.2 position by its success in the serial impact dot matrix segment, combined with a micro-marketed and strong price/performance ink jet model range. Canon remained the No.3 vendor, driving higher volumes of supremely low-priced entry-level ink jet models to blanket the region's home and small office segments.
More information is available by subscribing to Dataquest's Printer Quarterly Statistics Asia/Pacific program. This program offers a strategic printer market information service that covers the 10 major IT markets in the region. To subscribe to this program, please call 800-419/DATA. More information about Dataquest's programs, descriptions of recent research reports and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at dataquest.com .
Dataquest maintains direct local operations in Japan and seven countries in the Asia/Pacific region -- Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand -- and has research affiliates in China, India, and New Zealand.
Dataquest, a unit of Gartner Group Inc., has been providing global market research and consulting services for the high-technology and financial communities for 26 years. Dataquest provides worldwide market coverage on the semiconductor, computer systems and peripherals, communications, document management, software, and services sectors of the information technology industry.
As the world's leading authority on IT, Gartner Group provides clients with a wide range of products and services in the areas of IT advisory services, measurement, research, decision support, analysis, consulting and training. Founded in 1979, with headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Gartner group is at the center of a global community of more than 9,000 client organizations served by analysts in 80 locations worldwide. Additional information about the company is available on the Internet at gartner.com .
CONTACT: Dataquest
Lane Leskela, 852/2824-6107
lane.leskela@dataquest.com
Lai-Ling Lam, 65/333-6773
lailing.lam@dataquest.com
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