Single-function Inkjets Plateau
Single function inkjet printers also showed a decline of 4%. These recorded total sales of Rs 220 crore, according to IDC India. FY 07 was the first year when inkjet sales finally slipped below inkjet MFDs. The total number of single function inkjet printers shipped was 620,000 units; a substantial decline from the 660,000 units last fiscal. With the price points of laser printers hitting a new low, even the SMB customers opted for laser printers.

According to Dhandayutham, "despite growth being witnessed in the overall inkjet market (SF and MFDs combined), the market for single function inkjets has been showing a declining trend. This can be attributed not only to the rapid adoption of multi-function products, but also to aggressive pricing tactics adopted by the laser printer vendors of late. However, SF inkjets are likely to continue to be in demand due to the printing needs of home offices/small offices and for special applications such as photo printing."

Belying market fears of a downturn in demand in the inkjet space, HPs market share increased to 71%. The vendor launched its Officejet Pro Printer Series that enable small businesses to save up to 30% in terms of cost per page. Most importantly, HP took to the bundling route in order to push more volumes of entry-level inkjets. Canon on the other hand did not launch many products in its Pixma series that was introduced in FY 06 with much fanfare, the only exception being the IP 1880 photo-printer.

MFD Juggernaut Rolls
This was the year of the MFD. MFDs recorded revenue growth of 32.4%--several times higher than the overall market growth of 5.9%. Like the other segments, this segment too was focused on the SMB business opportunity. Says Shiladitya Sarkar, manager, Peripherals Research, IDC India: "The inkjet MFD market is expected to continue to grow at an increasing rate for at least the next couple of years, with its prime focus on the SOHO and SMB segments. The ability of one device to perform three or four functions has attracted buyers from these segments towards this All-in-One print/copy/fax device."

With the Indian printing market maturing, MFDs have become more affordable. There is a wider choice of in terms of features at different price points. Enterprise users increasingly perceive the printer as a major contributor to office productivity. The new features incorporated in printers today have only made them more versatile thus offering more value for money. The MFD space is witnessing three main trendsconvenience, convergence and connectivity. And the market is at a turning point where more and more customers are realizing the benefits of MFDs. MFDs have started to break into the market for copiers as well.

Once again, this market was led by HP with a 84.2% share in unit terms, followed by Canon at 6.9%. While all other competitors to HP saw a decline in their respective market share, Canon increased it manifold from last years 1.9%. Lexmark exited from this space following a sharp decline in market share, almost all of which was picked up by Canon.

HP rolled out some well-planned marketing. The vendor is now looking to place more emphasis on the educating the channel partners in order to familiarize them with the new technologies that are being introduced. An aggressive marketing strategy in tier II and III class cities is also a priority agenda apart from building infrastructure for the channel partners in these cities.

Sharp is also planning to re-enter the color market aggressively and is looking to position itself more as a solutions vendor. Sharp has two offerings in the MFD space; the A4MFP, a 15ppm product is targeted at the SMB segment, and the new range of A3 models that prints between 25CPM/PPM to 55CPM/PPM. A3s claim to enhance efficiency and profitability and are targeted mainly at the enterprise customers.

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