Combined serial inkjet and page printer, copier and multifunction product (MFP) market in India declined by 2.5 percent in the first quarter of 2011 as compared to corresponding quarter of the previous year. According to IT research firm Gartner, India shipped 6.65 lakh printers during first quarter ended March 31, 2011 as compared to 6.82 lakh units in the first quarter of the previous year.

Out of overall shipments, Hewlett Packard (HP) remained the leader with a market share of 56.7 percent, followed by Cannon with 21.7 percent, Epson with 7.5 percent and Samsung with 6.4 percent share.

“The revision in IT budgets towards the end of fiscal year 2010 led to controlled purchasing of print devices and IT hardware spend. However, the future outlook is positive. Purchasing would beef up in the coming months,” research analyst at Gartner, Amrita Choudhury said in a statement. She said the market declined due to single function printers as customers are opting for multi-function devices for households as well as enterprise purposes. “Another reason for dip in shipments is due to the end of financial year during the first quarter as companies tend to ship fresh products in the new financial year.” Also, enterprises are now looking at managed document services, where they are paying as per number of prints.