IDC Puts HP On Top Of Advancing Laser Printer Market
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The Oz laser hardware market grew 33 percent last year, with HP emerging as a market leader, and Brother losing its topspot after three consecutive quarters, according to new results from IDC.


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The advancing market is a reflection of growth experienced in the small business partnership category, with econonic recovery now moving into a sustainability phase, said the analyst.

But a push towards innovation by HP, such as its HP ePrint and HP Print Apps, which offers LaserJet users increased mobile efficiency in business, also reaped rewards for the company.

“After taking the lead in the laser printer market for three consecutive quarters in 2010, Brother lost the leadership position to HP in the final quarter, making Q4 the best quarter for HP,” said Yee-Kuan Lau, market analyst for IDC Australia.

“HP has been very active in the consumer space towards Q4 with aggressive channel activities, while at the same time creating mindshare with e-Print advertisements to generate end-user demand,” said Lau.

Richard Bailey, Vice President, Imaging and Printing Group, HP South Pacific, said the company had led the industry with its HP ePrint LaserJet printer range to offer small and medium businesses an innovative laser print offering. 

“HP’s range addresses the needs of these customers by providing them with useful technology innovations such as HP ePrint and HP Print Apps, which is reflected by IDC results,” Bailey said:

HP ePrint allows small businesses to better streamline their business processes, by offering the ability to print and share quality work in an instant, and cutting back on the time spent on administrative tasks while away from the office.

 

Having the ability to print high-quality, fast presentations, invoices and work documents while on the road means improved productivity for small businesses, said the company.

HP Print Apps also offers small businesses the option to print up-to-date content from the web without a PC.

Available directly on the printer’s touchscreen display, its content includes Yahoo!7 Daily Brief Australia’s first daily news Print App; Google Docs for easy document scanning to the web for printing at a later time;  Box.net to scan, share, manage and access business content online; and Biztree for immediate access to business forms such as invoices, contracts, receipts, legal agreements and checklists.

The IDC results also ranked HP in the number one position in the colour laser print market.

“We have seen tremendous growth not only in our overall laser business, but also in the colour laser segment,” said Bailey. “HP offers these businesses superior quality, affordable and fast colour laser printing for in house professional printing together with industry-leading ePrint technology for mobile access from anywhere in the world.”

Among the top 7 vendors in the total laser market for Q4 comprising colour and mono laser printers, Hewlett Packard grabbed 34%, with Brother following at 23% and Samsung achieving 14%. The other players include Canon (11%), Fuji Xerox (7%) Lexmark (4%) and Kyocera Mita (3%).