According to International Data Corporation’s (IDC) India City-wise Monthly Printer Tracker Report, while the tier one cities constituted close to 34 per cent of the hard-copy printer (HCP) unit shipment in India, the rest of the shipment was accounted for by tier two cities and beyond. The results are based on interviews with 407 channel partners of OEMs, among other key industry stakeholders, in 45 cities across various states.

In India, decision making cycles for the industry have shortened in view of the intensely competitive landscape. There is also clear volume growth and deepening in markets beyond the metros and tier two cities.

Rahul Kanwar, Research Manager at IDC India, observed, “Channel partners began stocking up inventories in August in the wake of festive season ahead, which led to a strong city-level market during the month. However, the inventory build-up was not necessarily uniform across all the cities.”

“The dynamics of the HCP market become very different at a city level and are often driven by local market influencers, so the cities that drove high shipments in August may not necessarily be the top performers in the next months,” Rahul noted.

Small and medium businesses, education and BFSI are the key drivers in tier two and tier three cities. As government spending on IT infrastructure is increasing, it is expected to have a further positive impact on the market for select cities.