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| Gartner Dataquest Says Latin American Printer Shipments Suffer 10 Percent Decline in Third Quarter of 2002 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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SAN JOSE, Calif., November 25, 2002 — Driven by declining sales in Brazil and Argentina, Latin America printer shipments totaled 1.3 million units in the third quarter of 2002, a 10.2 percent decline from the same period last year, according to Dataquest Inc, a unit of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB).
Printer shipments in Brazil totaled 456,826 units in the third quarter of 2002, a 16.5 percent decrease from the third quarter of 2001. Argentina printer shipments slipped to 27,645 units, down 83 percent. "While Argentina's drop was steep, some improvement has been seen, as shipments have grown sequentially since the beginning of the year," said Federico De Silva Leon, industry analyst covering printers for Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platforms Latin America group. "Brazil's sharp decline was the result of a weakening real and the uncertainty surrounding the presidential elections, which impacted sales both at the consumer level and at the professional segment." Hewlett-Packard experienced a slight increase in market share during the third quarter of 2002, despite suffering a 10.1 percent decline in shipments (see Table 1). Epson was the only top five vendor to experience an increase in shipments in the quarter. Table 1 Latin America Printer Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 3Q02 (Units)
Source: Gartner Dataquest (November 2002)
While shipments of single-function inkjet printers continue to show weakness, multifunction inkjet printers are gaining momentum in Latin America and are taking an ever-growing share from printer-only inkjet products. "This is a result of better product offerings and a significant reduction in prices for a very price-sensitive market. Consumers are realizing the benefits of consolidating multifunctions into one single printing device, especially when the price tag is not much more than conventional printers," said De Silva Leon. One of the bright spots in the region has been the consistency in the page printer market, particularly in the color segment, which grew 38 percent year over year. While the base is still small, with single-pass technologies now being offered by all major vendors and with lower prices, this technology is well positioned for continued growth. On a country level basis, Mexico has proved to be one of the most stable markets among the larger countries. Printer shipments in Mexico grew 1.3 percent in the third quarter of 2002, and while it is not a large growth rate, the holiday season could put Mexico in positive territory for the year, albeit a small growth. The Andean region continued to perform well, with printer shipments in Colombia increasing 64.2 percent in the quarter, followed by Peru with 23.6 percent and Chile with 19.7 percent year over year. The Rest of Latin America region, which includes Central America, the Caribbean and other countries in South America, posted a 6.6 percent growth, aided by a good performance in Central America. This information is produced by Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platforms Latin America group. The group provides research on key aspects of the dynamic PC, server and printer hardware markets in Latin America. The focus is on regional and country issues in the top eight Latin American markets and the Rest of Latin America (ROLA) category, where Central American and Caribbean countries are grouped. To subscribe to this program, please call 408-468-8000. Gartner Dataquest is the recognized leader in providing the high technology and financial communities with market intelligence for the semiconductor, computer systems and peripherals, communications, document management, software, and services sectors of the global information technology industry. Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 10,500 clients leverage technology to achieve business success. Gartner's businesses consist of Research, Consulting, Measurement, Events and Executive Programs. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has 4,000 associates, including more than 1,000 research analysts and consultants, in more than 75 locations worldwide. Fiscal 2002 revenue totaled $907 million. For more information, visit www.gartner.com. |
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Contact: Christy Pettey Gartner +1 408 468 8312 christy.pettey@gartner.com |
