"'Inkjet all-in-one (AIO) printers continued to gain popularity as prices have decreased considerably and the product offering has broadened,'" said Federico De Silva Leon, industry analyst for Gartner's Computing Platforms Latin America group. "'With prices now comparable to single-function printers, end-users are increasingly making the shift towards these versatile devices that can print, copy, fax and scan.'"

Mexico was the No. 1 country for printer shipments in the first quarter of 2003, despite a 2 percent decline. Gartner analysts said sales in Mexico would have declined more if not for the success of AIO units in the country. "'Mexico has been the testing grounds for printer vendors offering AIO, and it has yielded good results, as seen in the higher market share of these devices in Mexico than in Brazil,'" said De Silva Leon.

Source: "Gartner Says Latin American Printer Shipments Declined 5 Percent in the First Quarter of 2003," May 14, 2003

Impacted by lower sales in the PC market and severe economic conditions in some countries, Latin America printer shipments totaled 5.2 million units in 2002, a 15.3 percent decline from 2001, according to Dataquest Inc, a unit of Gartner, Inc.

"'All-in-one inkjet printers are showing much stronger growth rates than the printer-only inkjet products. During the fourth quarter of 2002, single-function inkjet printers declined 20.6 percent, while inkjet AIO products grew 287 percent,'" said Federico De Silva Leon, industry analyst covering printers for Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platforms Latin America group. "'With increased product offerings and competitive pricing, consumers and businesses perceive these devices as good-valued products.'"

"'Looking forward, the introduction of new PC technologies and applications, lower price points, particularly in mobile computing, and the fact that the region is due for a PC equipment renewal in the professional segment, should favor printer vendors,'" said Luis Anavitarte, vice president and research director for Gartner Dataquest's Latin America group.

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says Latin American Printer Shipments Declined 15 Percent in 2002," March 3, 2003

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. 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.'"

"'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.'"

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says U.S. Copier and Printer Sales Reached $5.6 Billion in Third Quarter of 2002," November 26, 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.

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.'"

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says Latin American Printer Shipments Suffer 10 Percent Decline in Third Quarter of 2002," November 25, 2002

"The U.S. printer industry is going through a transition as inkjet printer shipments are on the decline in 2002, while all-in-one (AIO) multifunction product shipments are on the rise, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc."

"Gartner Dataquest said U.S. inkjet printer shipments decreased 5.8 percent in the first quarter of 2002, while AIO multifunction product shipments increased 98 percent."

"Total inkjet printer shipments reached 4.1 million units in the first quarter of 2002, while AIO (both sheet-fed and flatbed multifunction products) shipments totaled 1.3 million units."

"'First-quarter data indicate that consumers recognize the advantages of an AIO on a broader scale and are buying accordingly. AIO products are no longer the expensive conglomeration of mediocre printer, fax and copy functions,' said David Haueter, senior analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Digital Document and Imaging group. 'The newest models clearly offer something much greater than the sum of their parts. The future looks bright as AIO vendors improve their products, broaden product lines and cut prices.'"

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says U.S. Inkjet Printer Market Declined as All-In-One Multifunction Products Experienced Robust Growth in First Quarter of 2002," July 15, 2002

"Latin American printer shipments surpassed 1.3 million units in the first quarter of 2002, a 14 percent decline from the same time a year ago, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner, Inc. Inkjet printer shipments continued to show weakness while the page printer market was the only segment to post positive growth."

"'Through PC bundles and/or independently, HP is now in the position to conquer about 50 percent of the Latin America printer market, making it harder for competitors,' said Federico De Silva Leon, industry analyst covering printers for Gartner Dataquest's Computing Platforms Latin America group. 'The new HP will no doubt generate higher levels of marketing creativity in its Latin American printer competitors.'"

"One of the steepest declines occurred in Brazil, the No. 1 country for printer shipments in Latin America, as shipments in the country dropped 15.9 percent in the first quarter of 2002. Brazil is affected by its slowing economy, and it is also feeling the impact of its trading Mercosur partner, Argentina, which is immersed in a deep economic crisis. Shipments slumped 93.4 percent during the first quarter in Argentina."

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says Latin America Printer Shipments Declined 14 Percent in the First Quarter of 2002," May 23, 2002

"Gartner Dataquest forecasts U.S. color page printer hardware shipments to grow 24.6 percent in 2002, to more than 315,000 units, up from 252,000 units in 2001. U.S. color copier hardware shipments are expected to reach 44,000 units this year, an increase of 3.5 percent over 2001 shipments of more than 42,000. In 2001, shipments of color page printers increased 8.6 percent, while color copier hardware shipments dropped 6.7 percent."

"'In 2002, new color page printer products will span the range from entry-level color lasers for the small office/home office to higher-speed color LED printers that will bring affordable color into the workgroup and enterprise,' said Peter Grant, principal analyst for Gartner Dataquest's Digital Documents and Imaging Worldwide group. 'Vendors competing in the low end color printer segment need to balance their low hardware price with an acceptable supplies price.'"

Source: "Gartner Dataquest Says Color Printer and Copier Segments Poised for Positive Growth in 2002," April 23, 2002