Worldwide shipments of hardcopy peripherals declined 11.7% year over year to 19.5 million units in Q2/23. Shipment value also contracted 0.9% year over year during the quarter to $9.5 billion, according to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker.

Notable highlights from the quarter include:

• The decline in both units and value was caused by the fulfillment of pent-up demand and over-stocking from prior quarters. Sluggish consumer demand continues to plague the global market with reduced sell-through and a pessimistic economic outlook.
• The three largest regional markets – China, the United States, and Western Europe – all experienced year-over-year declines in Q2/23, driven by decreased demand for A4 printers from both commercial and consumer segments. In the short term, demand from the non-commercial segment is projected to remain low while commercial demand is likely to remain strong, particularly for A3 printers.

Brother and Pantum were the only two vendors in the top five to post positive results in Q2/23 with shipment growth of 9.6% and 14.6%, respectively. Contributing factors included their successful efforts in catering to the commercial sector where their lower price band models saw some traction among small and medium-sized businesses.