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Worldwide LFP market posts third consecutive quarter of growth

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Soma Tah
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FRAMINGHAM, USA: The worldwide large format printer (LFP) market recorded positive year-over-year results in both units (7.4 percent) and shipment value (3.7 percent) in the first quarter of 2014 (1Q14). This marks the third consecutive quarter of growth in both units and shipment value. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), the worldwide LFP market recorded approximately 81,500 unit shipments in the first quarter of 2014.

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"Shipments of UV-curable inkjet devices have been growing steadily over the past three years and IDC expects this trend to continue at a similar pace over the next 3 years," said Phuong Hang, program manager, Worldwide Large Format Printer Trackers.

Technology Highlights

The technical segment increased 9.3 percent year over year to 49,500 units shipped and 61 percent share of the total LFP market in the first quarter. All of IDC's regional markets experienced positive year-over-year growth in this segment with four out of eight showing double-digit growth, including Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) (10.5 percent), Japan (14.1 percent), Middle East & Africa (15.4 percent), and the U.S. (11.8 percent). Shipment value for this segment also grew 1.4 percent to more than $301 million in 1Q14.

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The graphics application segment grew 4.6 percent year over year and at 32,000 units accounts for 39 percent of the total LFP market. Five out of eight regional markets recorded year-over-year unit growth in this segment with Japan leading the pack at 22.4 percent, followed by Middle East & Africa and Canada at 18.7 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively. Similar to the technical segment, shipment value in graphics also expanded 5.3 percent year-over-year to over $493 million.

Vendor Highlights

HP remained the undisputed leader in the global LFP market with 39.8 percent unit share. The vendor grew 5.5 percent year over year to 32,500 units in the first quarter. HP remains the clear market leader in its traditional area of strength, the technical market, with more than two times the share of its next competitor, Canon. HP is the number three ranked vendor in the graphics market, trailing market leaders Epson and Canon.

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Canon climbed up one spot from a year ago to the number 2 position in the LFP market overall. The vendor ranked second in both the CAD and graphics segments with double-digit unit growth year over year, 18.8 percent and 16.6 percent, respectively. Canon also enjoyed significant year-over-year growth in its biggest regional markets for technical and graphics printers, growing 22.5 percent in Western Europe in the technical segment and 30.3 percent in Japan in the graphics space.

Trailing Canon by less than 1 point in unit shipment share, Epson was the number 3 ranked vendor in the global LFP market with nearly 17,000 units shipped. The vendor grew 4.4 percent year over year to 20 percent share. Epson is the top vendor in the graphic applications segment, with close to three times the share of the next vendor, Canon. While technical printers are only a small part of its LFP sales, Epson grew its shipments in this segment by 7.4 percent over the previous year.

Roland, which holds a 3.4 percent share of the overall LFP market, was the number 4 ranked vendor in the worldwide market. Roland's shipments increased 12.4 percent year over year. Roland's strength is the graphics market, where it held the fourth position worldwide and grew 4.1 percent from a year earlier.

Ricoh rounded out the top 5 vendors worldwide with a three percent share of the worldwide LFP market, and enjoyed 4.0 percent unit growth compared to a year earlier. The vendor holds the number 4 spot in the technical market, where it saw a 3.8 percent gain year over year.

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