Saudi MFP market doubles last year, says IDC

According to a new IDC study, shipments of MFPs shot upwards by 110% in 2003 and they are expected to continue "flying off the shelves" in 2004, though the rate of expansion will drop to just below 50%. Despite high demand making it a seller's market, MFP prices continued to fall, resulting in a value jump of 62.9% in 2003 and an expected rise of 19.2% this year. Still in an early stage of development, the Saudi MFP market is expected to exhibit double-digit volume growth for the foreseeable future, though it will not be as dramatic as in 2003 and 2004.

Inkjets accounted for more than 80% of MFP shipments in Saudi Arabia in 2003 and will again dominate in 2004. According to IDC, with low-end machines constituting the bulk of volume, inkjets only represented 22% of value last year. By contrast, the monochrome laser segment constituted 18.6% of unit shipments in 2003 but 66.5% of value. And although color laser MFPs accounted for less than a percent of volume, they amounted to more than 11% of value. "Inkjets will continue to lead in terms of volume," says Nassar Sha'sha'a, Analyst, IDC CEMA's Office Automation. "Their price and their generally low-level of space requirements make them attractive to home and small businesses across the board. Color laser machines, however, will be the fastest growing segment on the Saudi market, though it is starting from a very low installed base."

HP dominated the Saudi MFP market in 2003, out shipping its nearest competitor by orders of magnitude. Nevertheless, Canon, Sharp, Epson, and Ricoh all had respectable numbers last year. According to IDC, altogether, these five vendors captured nearly 90% of market volume. While the printer-oriented HP led in the inkjet segment, where it is traditionally very strong, copier-oriented Sharp grabbed first in the mono laser segment. "Although the Saudi MFP market is a tight market," says Sha'sha'a, "it's also a young market in the early stages of adoption and things are still settling into place. This means there are still plenty of opportunities for vendors to increase their market shares."

IDC's Saudi Arabia MFPs 2004-2008 Forecast and 2003 Vendor Shares analyzes the market for multifunctional devices in Saudi Arabia and delivers forecasts for 2004 through 2008. It includes information on unit shipments, value, and average street price and covers the following form factors: MFP or MFP-capable fax machines, digital copier MFPs, and printer-based MFPs. Vendor unit and value shares are also presented by technology. Data for 2002 and 2003 is actual, whereas data for 2004-2008 is projected.