Worldwide hardcopy peripherals market experienced a 9.7% decline year-on-year (YoY) with shipments reaching about 25.8 million units for the first quarter of 2013, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).
According to the report, the value of the shipments decreased 5.7% YoY to $14.3bn, which the analysts said is the third consecutive quarter of decline in shipment value.
IDC Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker programme manager, Phuong Hang, said that the markets are changing and this is bringing about changes in strategy and product portfolios.
"With many workers either working from home or working remotely several times per week, they must be able to access their company information and, in many cases, print this information from a variety devices and locations. The key for manufacturers will be the ability to offer this in a format that makes it simple and easy for the business and its users," Hang said.
During the quarter, the multi-function printer (MFP) market registered a 3.2% rise, followed by monochrome laser MFPs that went up by 0.9%, while the colour inkjet MFPs had 50% share of the hardcopy peripherals market.
The market was led by HP with 38.7% market share though the company reported 13.4% drop in shipment to 10 million units, followed by Canon, which recorded a 13.7% YoY rise in shipments.
Epson was in third place shipping 3.9 million units despite its shipment volume declined 26.8% while Brother was fourth place registering 10.6% YoY growth.