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| Gartner Dataquest Says U.S. Copier and Printer Sales Reached $5.6 Billion in Third Quarter of 2002 |
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SAN JOSE, Calif., November 26, 2002 — Copier and printer sales in the United States totaled $5.6 billion in the third quarter, down 6.4 percent from the same period last year, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB).
Copier sales in the third quarter of 2002 reached $3.9 billion, down 4 percent from the same period last year. Printer sales were at $1.7 billion in third quarter 2002, off 11 percent from last year's level. "Copier and printer companies have weathered the economic storm fairly well this year compared with other information technology products," said Andrew Johnson, vice president for Gartner Dataquest's Digital Document and Imaging group. "Our worst case scenario this year called for businesses to get aggressive in weeding out overspending on document output device fleets, but so far this has not happened. Year to date, copier and printer sales are only off 3 percent from 2001 levels." Gartner Dataquest analysts said businesses will continue to tighten document output device budgets in a passive way, by making do with what's on hand. This lengthens product replacement cycles, and is generally bad news for most copier and printer vendors that need to churn their installed base (upgrade) to support manufacturing volume to drive revenue growth. Incumbent vendors however, will remain in control, whereby protecting their aftermarket and supply profits. "Color printer sales in the consumer market have gotten a boost from digital photography, while businesses are cautious about buying new workgroup color printers," said Peter Grant, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Digital Document and Imaging group. "Color is still regarded as a luxury item; so vendors need to work harder to show the business value of color documents." Despite businesses cautious approach, a record number of new color page printers found their way into U.S. offices last quarter, with shipments reaching almost 96,000 units, a 49 percent jump from last year. This research is published by Gartner Dataquest's Digital Documents and Imaging Worldwide group. This group provides insight into the market dynamics driving the document management input and output devices including copiers, printers, facsimile machines, multifunction products, scanners, digital cameras and related software. It also provides market size, vendor market share and the shifts in buying power. For more information on this program, please contact Becky Tonnesen at 408-468-8287 or by e-mail at becky.tonnesen@gartner.com. Reports can be purchased on the Internet at www.gartner.com. 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 |
