Press releases

LONDON, 13 APRIL 2023 – In the last quarter of 2022, global 3D printer shipments continued the trend established earlier in the year with volumes flat or falling, according to the latest global market intelligence by CONTEXT, the IT market research firm.

London, 22nd February 2023 – Notebook and desktop unit sales plunged in the first four weeks of 2023, falling by −44% and −23% year-on-year respectively, on the back of low consumer confidence and muted business investment, according to CONTEXT, the global IT market intelligence company.

LONDON, 12 January 2023 – Aggregate 3D Printer unit shipments dropped by -4% during the third quarter of 2022, while systems revenues across the same time period rose by +14%, according to CONTEXT, the market intelligence firm.

LONDON, 18 OCTOBER 2022 – Just as the Industrial* 3D printing industry seemed to have fully recovered from the pandemic and begun to accelerate, reduced domestic China shipments, directly related to regional Covid flareups, pulled-down global shipments of Industrial 3D printer systems in the second quarter of 2022, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. Other lingering Covid-induced issues in the west – including continued supply-chain problems and global inflation – also challenged printer system vendors around the world.

London, 7th October 2022 - IT resellers across much of Europe and beyond are largely positive about the future despite strengthening economic headwinds, according to the latest ChannelWatch report from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

LONDON, 14 JULY 2022 – In a total reversal of trends seen during pandemic lockdowns in 2020, shipments of the highest-end 3D printers were on the rise and accelerating in Q1 2022 while shipments of consumer-centric systems were down and decelerating, according to the latest by CONTEXT, the market intelligence company.

London, 26th April 2022 - The volume of notebook sales in the education sector across Europe has declined sharply in the first 11 weeks of the year, although it remains higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

LONDON, 12 April 2022 – Global shipments of Industrial* 3D printer systems accelerated again in Q4 2021 giving a clear sign that the global 3D printer market is being renewed and is no longer in recovery mode, according to CONTEXT, the market intelligence company.

London, 24th February 2022 - Revenue sales through distribution of business printers across Europe have remained significantly higher than those of consumer devices in January thanks to the strong performance of Laser SFPs, according to new data from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

LONDON, 18 January 2022 – Shipments of Industrial* 3D Printers were up +39% through the first three quarters of 2021 but remained recessed -6% from pre-Covid levels (Q1-Q3 2019). Certain 3D printing technologies can bring mid-volume production of hard goods closer to the point of consumption and so shorten the supply chain, reducing the dependence on logistics that are currently problematic across the globe.

London, 15th November 2021 – European revenue sales of enterprise networking equipment are on an upward trend in the last 4 weeks after a lower than expected Q3 performance, while Enterprise storage revenues are on par with last year’s results but the server market has continued to slump, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 29th October 2021 - European sales through distribution for tablets and notebooks trended significantly higher than 2019 figures in Q3, but desktops continued to struggle to recover to 2019 levels, according to the latest data from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

LONDON, 12 October 2021 – New 3D printer shipments continued to accelerate in Q2 2021 in both long-standing verticals, such as dental and aerospace, and new markets eager to explore technologies which can help mitigate current and future supply-chain hiccups, according to latest market insights by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 29th September 2021 - High quality market analysis is at a growing premium as European channel businesses try to make sound strategic decisions to minimise the impact of product shortages, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 10th September 2021 - CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company, launched a new distribution forecasting report designed to help channel businesses plan more effectively for the second half of 2021 and beyond.

London, 1st September– Volume sales of education notebooks through Western Europe’s largest distributors increased by +38% year-on-year in Q2 2021 as demand from institutions and households remained high, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 3rd August 2021 – Sales of printers through European distributors were up strongly in June 2021 (by +17.2% in units year-on-year), and revenues grew even more (by +21.8%), according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 16th July 2021 - European distribution sales of unified communications (UC) products have surged by 76% so far this year compared to the same period in 2020, with more modest growth expected for the second half of 2021, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company

LONDON, 14th July 2021 – Shipments of high-end Industrial and Design 3D printers continued to recover in Q1 2021 as deliveries into the US and Europe began to mirror the recovery previously seen in China, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 26th May 2021 - Channel sales of software-as-a-service (SaaS) cybersecurity products stood out in the first three months of 2021, with network and endpoint security revenues picking up at the start of April, according to the latest data from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 21st May 2021 - Revenue growth from sales of unified communications (UC) products and systems across Europe has continued upwards in the first few months of 2021, despite a strong 2020 dominated by mass remote working, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 11th May 2021 - The European market for refillable ink tank printers hit a new milestone in Q1 after the year-on-year volume of average number of pages printed (ANP) soared 33% to top one billion, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 5th May 2021 - Revenue growth through distribution across Europe could hit 10% year-on-year in Q2 2021, although supply chain issues and comparatives with strong 2020 figures may lower the figure slightly, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 13th April 2021 – Sales of large-format displays (LFDs) in Western Europe (WE) during 2020 were significantly affected by the pandemic and there have been little signs of recovery in early Q1 2021, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 9th April 2021 - Demand from house-bound students and workers has driven strong performance in European printer sales during the first 11 weeks of 2021, although supply issues are impacting certain product categories, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 7th April 2021 – Sales of mobile accessories, including docking stations and computer cases, have seen significant growth since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 2nd March 2021 - The rapid response of local authorities, schools and central government during COVID-19 school closures has made the country by far the leading shipper of mobile PCs to schools in Europe, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 9th February 2021 - Europe’s IT distributors recorded revenue of €1.8 billion for the second week in a row as the channel continued its stellar start to 2021, according to the latest data from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. The strong performance in week three followed guidance from CONTEXT last week which predicted year-on-year channel sales growth of between 6% and 12% this quarter.

London, 1st February 2021 - Revenues sales in IT distribution across Europe could hit double figures year-on-year in the first three months of 2021 as strong demand continues from the end of last year, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 22nd January 2021 - European IT distributors have made a better start to the year than in 2020, although supply shortages are still cause for some concern, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

LONDON, 14 January 2021 – As the West emerged from early lockdowns and the East continued to recover from the initial months of the pandemic, there were rebounds in the Professional, Design and Industrial printer segments with shipments up +9%, +16% and +22% respectively between Q2 and Q3 2020.

London, 14th January 2021 - The European IT channel ended an extraordinary year on a high, with distribution sales hitting a record €26.3 billion and year-on-year growth of 10.2% for Q4, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 21 Oct, 2020 – The global 3D printing market saw a+24% second quarter sequential rebound in domestic unit shipments of Industrial-class printers in China, and a global surge of +68% in Personal desktop printer shipments, according to latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 2nd October 2020 - Global IT distributors appear to have worked hard during lockdown to support their resellers and enhance key channel partnerships, although there’s more work to do as cloud emerges as a key focus area, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 11th Sept 2020 – Europe’s largest distributors sold significantly more gaming monitors in July 2020 than in the same period last year, according to the latest research by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. The increases coincided with the time when the pandemic, and measures taken for its containment, began seriously to affect the continent.

London, 11th Sept 2020 – Western Europe’s largest distributors saw printer sales boom at the end of the first quarter of 2020 and then fall in the second quarter, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 5th August 2020 – The strong pandemic-related notebook momentum seen at the end of Q1 2020 carried on into Q2, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 17th July 2020 – Sales of monitors through distributors in Western Europe (WE) grew +14% year-on-year in the part of the second quarter of 2020 up to the first three weeks of June, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

LONDON, 09 July, 2020 – As anticipated, regional quarantines have taken their toll on much of the 3D printer industry, according to latest market insights by technology market research firm CONTEXT.

London, 25th June 2020 – In May 2020, the consumer print market dominated (inkjet MFPs continued to shine, with sales driven by low-cost consumer models), and business spend continued to suffer, according to the latest data from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 10th June 2020 - Sales of large-format displays (LFDs) were already being affected by the Covid-19 pandemic before a dramatic drop in early Q2 2020, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 1st June 2020 - The selling prices of notebooks through Distribution across most Western European countries has strengthened over the past few weeks, according to a new and more accurate price index devised by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 26th May 2020 - Hardware has been more negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic than software or services, although some sectors like computing components continue to do well, according to the latest channel analysis from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 13th May 2020 - Sales of monitors through Western Europe’s (WE) distributors grew by a record +35% year-on-year in March 2020 contributing to an overall +18% increase for the first quarter, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 5th May 2020 - European revenue growth in distribution climbed into positive year-on-year figures for the first time in a month during the week ending April 26 (week 17), but reduced business and consumer demand is likely to see overall figures decline in Q2, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 27th April 2020 - As of the end of Q1 2020, many 3D printer companies from the US, Europe, China and everywhere across the globe have rightly refocused their effort away from printer sales to producing much-needed supplies to help combat coronavirus, according to the latest by CONTEXT, the market intelligence company.

London, 27th April 2020 - The IT distribution channel in Italy has registered strong growth in January and February this year with some smart working categories driven by the nationwide lockdown, according to new data from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 27th April 2020 - Volume sales of PCs through Western Europe’s largest distributors increased by +38% year-on-year in the first three weeks of March as the accelerating spread of coronavirus produced a surge in sales of remote-working devices, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 27th April 2020 - Web cams, headsets, software and notebooks are the categories generating the biggest increase in channel revenue across Western Europe, as home working and schooling forces major changes in demand, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 27th April 2020 – The Enterprise market has been slower to react to the coronavirus crisis than the PC and AV-system markets – as early as February, resellers were stockpiling products in anticipation of supply disruption. However, it is possible to see the effects on the Enterprise sector in the Western Europe (WE) IT distribution channel now that numbers for week 12 have been included in the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 27th April 2020 - Revenue growth among European IT channel players has faltered for the first time since the start of coronavirus-related government lockdowns, with supply shortages and public holidays partially to blame, and tough comparatives with a strong quarter end in 2019, according to the latest analysis from CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

LONDON, 14 April 2020 – As of the end of Q1 2020, many 3D printer companies from the US, Europe, China and everywhere across the globe have rightly refocused their effort away from printer sales to producing much-needed supplies to help combat coronavirus, according to the latest by CONTEXT, the market intelligence company.

London, 5th March 2020 – The market dynamics that characterised PC sales in 2019 continued into early 2020 as strong demand from commercial buyers offset weaker consumer sales, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 13th February 2020 – The adoption of SSDs for primary storage accelerated during the fourth quarter of 2019 as the volume of HDD PCs – notebooks, desktops and workstations – sold through the Western Europe (WE) IT distribution channel fell to 9.4%, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 5th February 2020 – The steady change in retail, workspace and classroom environments that is driven by the need to improve customer service or/and collaboration efficiency has resulted in another positive quarter for sales of large format displays (LFDs) through distributors in Western Europe (WE).

LONDON, 17th January – Shipments of Industrial* 3D printers priced at $100K+ were up by +8% in Q3 2019 compared to the same period the previous year. This key sector – which accounted for almost 70% of all 3D printer revenues for the period – saw even more impressive shipment growth of +12% on a trailing twelve-month (TTM) basis.

London, 2nd January 2020 - Resellers are more optimistic about the coming 12 months than they were a year ago and backed by robust growth in 2019, are driving investment in both traditional and emerging product categories such as IoT, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company

London, 12th December 2019 – The IT channel should be braced for much weaker performance in the PC market in 2020, with year-on-year sales likely to turn negative in the second half of the year, according to CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 18th November 2019 – As Brexit looms, the IT distribution channel Enterprise market in Ireland is thriving with double-digit growth in the server, storage and networking segments, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 25th October 2019 – Total distribution sales of desktop monitors in West Europe (WE) were down in August, mainly as a result of weak sales to business channels. However, sales to retail and consumer etail were up, according to data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London October 14th 2019 - Europe's leading technology market research company, CONTEXT, announced today that co-founder and joint CEO Jeremy Davies will be retiring from the company.

London, 11th October 2019 – Total distribution sales of desktop monitors in West Europe (WE) were down in August, mainly as a result of weak sales to business channels. However, sales to retail and consumer etail were up, according to data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

LONDON, 8 October – While shipments of 3D printers in the Personal* price class struggled to remain flat in the first half of 2019, the other three major price classes – Professional, Design and Industrial – saw encouraging global unit shipment growth

London, 27th September 2019 – Chromebooks made up a record 11% of all notebooks sold by Western Europe’s largest distributors in July and August 2019, having benefitted from the seasonal third-quarter peak in education demand, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. Share was up from 8% in the same period last year, following a +27% year-on-year growth in volumes.

London, 16th September 2019 – The start of Q3 2019 saw printer sales continue to follow the pattern that has characterised the past few quarters, with healthy demand from consumer and business laser multifunction printers (MFPs), according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 4th September 2019 – Sales of large interactive display solutions in Western Europe (WE) grew by almost 30% year-on-year in July 2019. The recent launch of new high-end models will only bring more attention to this category, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 3rd September 2019 – The start of Q3 2019 saw PC sales continue to follow the pattern that has characterised the past few quarters, with healthy demand from commercial buyers offsetting weaker consumer sales, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

Record venture capitalist investment, record Kickstarter pledges, and rising shipments from newcomers set the stage for growth in 2019 LONDON, 11 July 2019 – Global 3D printer shipments were mixed in the first quarter with most unit growth coming from upstarts. While overall shipments were marginally down in Q1’9, mostly again due to the weakness in the high-volume Personal* segment and a seasonal slowdown in Industrial* segment, the Professional* and Design* segments saw good growth. Momentum from newcomers and new investments seen in the 2nd quarter however, pave the way for a strong year of solid growth.

London, 25th June 2019 - Revenues from desktop monitors sold through distributors in West Europe (WE) continued to grow in early Q2 2019 (April and May) by +12% year-on-year after an already strong first quarter. Larger monitors, with screens above 30", made a significant contribution, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the technology market intelligence company.

London, 21st May 2019 - Printer markets have become increasingly healthy over the recent years and are currently robust, although, as always, they remain competitive. However, sales of printer hardware through distributors in West Europe (WE) were sharply down by -4.2% year-on-year in Q1 2019, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the technology market intelligence company.

LONDON, 20th May 2019 – Revenues from materials for Industrial/Professional* 3D printers have surged by $4.6B over the past five years with 29.9% year-on-year growth in 2018 alone, according to new research from CONTEXT, the technology-focused market intelligence company. The market looks set to better the 2013–2018 five-year CAGR of 25.98% and is on track to amass another $15B in the next five years.

LONDON, 9th May 2019 – CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company, has been named by Great Place to Work® as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces for the second year.  In the rankings the IT sector scored highly, with Salesforce and Cisco taking 1st place in the very large company category (>1,000 employees). 25% of the companies in the large category (251-1000 employees) were from the IT sector, including ...

London, 30th April 2019 - Unit sales of large-format displays (LFDs) in West Europe (WE) continued to grow in Q1 2019 – by almost +14% year-on-year – driven by all sub-segments, including videowalls and high-brightness displays, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company

LONDON, 23rd April 2019 – While the cheapest class of 3D printers, those in the Personal* category, struggled in 2018, the high-end Industrial* category - which accounts for 70% of the global revenues of printer hardware - witnessed a year-on-year shipment growth of 18%, a trend expected to accelerate in 2019.

London, 15th April 2019 – Volume sales of PCs through Western European distributors were down by -2.4% in Q1 2019 compared to last year as consumer demand remained weak and Intel chip supply tight, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 25th March 2019 – Western Europe's largest distributors saw revenues from PC sales continue to rise in early Q1 2019 after a significant increase last year, according to data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 8th March 2019 - Unit sales of business-targeted monitors in January 2019 by Western Europe’s IT distributors grew by +19% year-on-year as increased specifications and lower average selling prices (ASP) boosted demand, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. Consumer-targeted monitor unit sales grew +9% over the same period.

London, 26th February 2019 - Sales of printer hardware through distributors in Western Europe (WE) were flat at -0.1% year-on-year in Q4 2018, mainly driven by the negative performance registered in December, which was a short month due to the Christmas holidays, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 25th February 2019 – Combined revenues from server computing products sold to enterprise customers through the distribution channel in Western Europe (WE) increased by +10.4% year-on-year in 2018, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 22nd February 2019 – Trends that characterized Western European PC distribution during 2018 are continuing in the first weeks of 2019, with good demand from commercial buyers offset by weaker consumer sales, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 15th January 2019 - Of the four main groups of 3D printers*, it appears that the INDUSTRIAL class will have had the strongest growth in machine shipments in 2018. INDUSTRIAL class 3D printer shipments are projected to show a +27% year-on-year (Y/Y) shipment increase, having already seen strong +19% growth through the first three quarters. In spite of ...

London, 4th February 2019 - After a strong 12 months, experts are predicting continued channel growth for 2019, with digital transformation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution driving new opportunities, although macroeconomic headwinds including Brexit will inevitably have an impact.

London, 7th January 2019 - Revenues from desktop monitors through Western European distributors continued to grow in early Q4 2018 following three strong quarters earlier in the year. Sales were once again driven by business monitors but gaming monitors also ...

London, 11th June 2018 - Unit shipments of printer hardware to Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) grew by +3% year-on-year in Q1 2018 for only the third time in the last two years.

London, 30th April 2018 - Revenues from large-format displays (LFDs) continued to grow in the first quarter of 2018, driven by, among other factors, sales of interactive displays which grew over 30% year on year, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 26th April 2018 - Combined revenues from server-computing products sold to enterprise customers through the distribution channel in Western Europe (WE) increased by +12.4% year-on-year in February 2018, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.The product segments grouped to form this meta-category are ...

London, 24 April 2018 – The global 3D-printer market continued its upward trajectory in Q4 2017 with more than 132K units shipped over the quarter, 14% more than in the same period a year ago. Shipments of INDUSTRIAL* 3D printers were up by 39% mostly thanks to newcomers in...

London, 27th March 2018 – Volume sales of PC workstations through Western Europe’s largest distributors were up by +11% year-on-year in the first two months of 2018 following +6% year-on-year growth in 2017, according to data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 26th March 2018 - Unit sales of business-targeted monitors in Western Europe (WE) were already strong in early Q1 2017 but have picked up even further in the same period this year to grow by +6%, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

London, 15th March 2018 - Combined revenues from networking products sold to enterprise customers through the distribution channel in Western Europe (WE) were effectively flat in January 2018, declining by only -0.2% year-on-year, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. However, the Enterprise LAN sector grew by +2.4% largely driven by sales of network switches.

London, 22nd February 2018 - Revenues from consumer-targeted monitors grew by +14% year-on-year in 2017 and unit sales were up by +5% compared to 2016, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company

London, 2nd February 2018 - Revenues from large format displays (LFDs) with ultra HD (UHD) resolution have almost doubled, and unit sales tripled, in the last quarter of 2017, according to the latest distribution data published by CONTEXT, the European IT market research company.

London, 1st February 2018 – Revenues from sales of business-targeted PCs through Western Europe’s largest distributors were up in Q4 2017 despite a drop in volume, according to data published by CONTEXT, the European IT market research company.

London, 9th January 2018 – During the first three quarters of 2017, both the Industrial/Professional and the Personal/Desktop sectors* of the 3D printer market witnessed global unit volume growth when compared to 2016. The Personal/Desktop market continued to surge, seeing 45% more printers shipped over Q1 to Q3 2017 than ...

London, 10th January 2018 – Shipments of desktop monitors have reached almost the same levels as last year, with volumes declining by -0.4 % in Q3 2017 compared to the year before, according to the latest figures from CONTEXT, the IT market analysis company.