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CONTEXT Research Updates deliver timely insights on key market segments.
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PCs
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Displays
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Imaging
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Enterprise
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3D Printing
PC Research update
London, 30 March 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.
Displays
London, 5 February 2021 – Sales of desktop monitors achieved record growth of 33% in Q4 2020 driven by demand in consumer channels and from small and medium business (SMB) resellers according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Imaging
London, 05 Oct 2020 – Demand driven by remote working and distance learning has kept the printer market rising through August, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Enterprise
London, 14 January 2021 – After a challenging year for enterprise networking, European revenues returned to typical levels in the last two months of 2020 according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
3D Printing
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. However, quarterly totals lagged behind those for 2019 and, for these key groups, were down by −12%, −11% and −21% year-on-year. The robust demand from shut-in consumers and working-from-home professionals for finished-good Personal 3D printers seen in the first half of the year settled down a bit in the third quarter but, although shipments were −7% down on Q2 2020, they were up +2% from the same period in the previous year.

Sales of docking stations and mobile computer cases up strongly since start of pandemic
London, 30 March 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.
As the need for mobile devices has increased – driven by the rise of homeworking and e-learning, and increased time on video calls, gaming and streaming – so has demand for accessories. In 2020, volume sales of docking stations through Europe’s largest distributors were up by +27% compared to 2019, while those of mobile carry cases increased by +27.3%. This has been followed by even stronger growth during the first two months of 2021: docking station sales were up +34% year-on-year in January and February, and case sales were up by +38%.
Increased demand for docking stations can clearly be attributed to the number of people having to set up offices in their homes. That of mobile carry cases is due, in part, to sales to the education market but as commercial organisations prepare for future hybrid working models, sales to this sector are also on the rise.
Volume sales of docking stations in the first two months of 2021 were up by +39%, +5%, and +57% year-on-year in Germany, the UK and France respectively. These are Western Europe’s largest markets for these products. In the largest markets across Central and Eastern Europe – Poland and the Czech Republic – sales grew by +82% and +12%.
Back in Western Europe, the UK saw the greatest sales of mobile computing cases in early Q1 2021 with a volume increase of +82%. It was followed by Germany, with growth of +94%, and France where sales rose by +15%. In Central and Eastern Europe, year-on-year sales in Poland (the largest market) were up by +17% and those in the Czech Republic grew by +31%.
Docking stations: European distribution
Mobile computing cases: European distribution
PC growth unabated in January 2021 as pandemic continues to drive mobile demand
London, 26 February 2021 – The strong growth in PC sales seen in 2020 continued unabated at the start of 2021 as demand for mobile PCs remained high, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
London, 26 February 2021 – The strong growth in PC sales seen in 2020 continued unabated at the start of 2021 as demand for mobile PCs remained high, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Despite the trading period in January 2021 being two days short of January last year, PC volume sales through Western Europe’s largest distributors increased by +20% year-on-year during the month, following a rise of +21% in Q4 2020. Growth was once more driven by notebooks, sales of which were up by +46% as distributors continued to fulfil large tenders from education and public administration. In addition, the extension of lockdown measures in many countries meant that demand for devices which enable working from home, e-learning, and connecting to friends and family stayed high.
The picture for desktops was, once again, entirely different: following a −21% drop in Q4 2020, volume sales declined by −38% year-on-year in January.
Commercial channels, which include sales to the education segment, saw the greatest increase in laptop volumes. In January, notebook sales to these channels were up by +59% year-on-year, while those of desktops dropped by −47%. In consumer channels, the performance of notebooks was weaker, growing by +28%, but that of desktops was better, growing by +2% when compared to the same month in the previous year.
Countries with high institutional education demand saw the strongest notebook growth. These included the UK (+120%), Italy (+106%) and Spain (+58%). In France, notebook sales grew by +24% but there was a −2% drop in Germany, a country which was heavily impacted by the product supply issues that remained a challenge across the region and continued to cause fluctuations in performance. Some of the growth registered in early 2021 was driven by fulfilment of orders placed much earlier in 2020. Supply issues are expected to continue to affect the market for quite some time – at least for the first half of the year.
Y/Y PC volume growth: Western European distribution
Y/Y notebook volume growth: Western European distribution
Demand for gaming PCs high in early Q4 as much of Europe goes into second lockdown
London, 18 December 2020 – Sales of gaming PCs through European distributors remained high in early Q4 2020, including the weeks leading up to Black Friday, as governments across the region announced new lockdown measures to control the spread of Covid-19 and consumers prepared to spend more time at home, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
London, 18 December 2020 – Sales of gaming PCs through European distributors remained high in early Q4 2020, including the weeks leading up to Black Friday, as governments across the region announced new lockdown measures to control the spread of Covid-19 and consumers prepared to spend more time at home, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Volume sales of gaming PCs grew to 946,000 units during the first two months of Q4, an increase of +26% on the same period last year. Growth was primarily driven by mobile systems, which represented the larger part of the market; sales of these were up by +29% whereas those of prebuilt gaming desktops increased by +5%.
There have been notable changes in the processor landscape over the past year, with AMD gaining significant ground on Intel. A year ago, Intel held 70% of gaming PC sales and AMD 30%; in early Q4 2020, Intel’s share of sales was 53% while AMD accounted for the remaining 47%.
Germany remained the largest European market for gaming PCs in distribution. In early Q4 2020, 20% of PC gaming sales through distributors were to this country and this was up by +35% compared to last year. The second-largest market, Russia, accounted for 13% of sales despite a weaker year-on-year performance. Spain and Poland (third and fourth in terms of size) saw volume sales increase by +53% and +33%, respectively.
Demand for gaming PCs has reached new heights since the outbreak of the pandemic and is expected to remain strong in the run up to Christmas. While there will be competition from new gaming consoles during the 2020 holiday season, PC demand is likely to stay high, not least due to recent announcements of new products such as AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series desktop CPUs and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 series GPUs.
Gaming PC volume sales: European distribution
Gaming PC volume sales: European distribution countries

Q4 sees another record of monitor sales
London, 5 February 2021 – Sales of desktop monitors achieved record growth of 33% in Q4 2020 driven by demand in consumer channels and from small and medium business (SMB) resellers according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Sales of desktop monitors began to accelerate at the start of the pandemic. They slowed briefly in the summer but picked up in September and kept growing throughout Q4, showing that demand was much higher than expected and has not yet been met. Investments in homeworking equipment seem to have continued and, given fourth-quarter holiday sales, gaming monitors saw even more interest than earlier in the year.
Desktop monitors: Volume sales by target customer, WE distribution
The record growth was due to sales of both consumer and business models. Due to lockdowns and office closures, sales to corporate resellers saw another quarter of decline, falling by -6% year-on-year. By contrast, sales to SMB have been recovering, growing by +18% in the same period, and those to retail have more than doubled. However, the need for homeworking and study devices has done more to drive growth than the special campaigns and sales that usually spur sales this time of the year. In fact, the backlog of orders was so high that there was no real need for vendors to incentivise customers.
When it comes to gaming or premium business models, where competition intensifies, the reasons for increased sales are slightly different. For gamers looking for models with refresh rates higher than 144 Hz, the choice keeps growing while prices keep going down. For homeworkers, it is all about specifications like ethernet input that enables monitors to become display and docking station in one, USB-C ports, good quality cameras or ergonomic features: distributors saw significant increases in sales of models with these features in Q4 2020. The majority of vendors are currently facing supply issues – especially for mainstream screen sizes like 21.5″, 23.8″ and 27″ – and this has changed the portfolio of monitors sold: the growth in sales of larger models, curved-screen devices or even small portable monitors may not necessarily reflect customer preferences but the choices they currently have.
Desktop monitors: Volume share by specification, Q4-20 vs Q4-19,
WE distribution
With sales through Western European distributors growing +23% year on year in 2020, Q4 closed one of the best-ever years for the desktop monitor market. This increase has shown that the importance of good screens for home offices was previously underestimated. Investment in homeworking devices happened at different paces in different countries so, although overall growth will probably slow down, demand should still remain high in those parts of Europe where sales picked up later or more slowly and, as a result, Q1 2021 will show increases compared to the first months of 2020 that may carry on into Q2. However, the extent to which the market grows will really depend on the level of supply as this remains challenging and poses major obstacle for many vendors.
October monitor sales meet expectations, increasing by 21%
London, 26 Nov 2020 – Sales of desktop monitors through distributors in Western Europe (WE) grew in early Q4 2020, continuing the trend that began at the start of the pandemic. Over this period, sales have been driven not only by continuous high demand from consumers but also by recovery in the business segment, according to data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
London, 26 Nov 2020 – Sales of desktop monitors through distributors in Western Europe (WE) grew in early Q4 2020, continuing the trend that began at the start of the pandemic. Over this period, sales have been driven not only by continuous high demand from consumers but also by recovery in the business segment, according to data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
In the first month of the quarter, combined sales of business- and consumer-targeted monitors were up by +21% year-on-year. While most of the growth in Q3 as a whole was due to consumer models, sales were up in both segments in October. As expected, consumer e-tail and retail drove the change, but sales to small and medium business (SMB) resellers and business e-tailers also improved. Sales to corporate resellers continued to fall, declining by -8% year-on-year.
Desktop monitors: Volume share by channel, WE distribution
In the past, November (which includes the weeks leading up to Black Friday) has been a very strong month for consumer monitors. In 2018 and 2019, however, sales began picking up in October, and distributors have seen the same thing happen this year: sales to consumer channels (e-tail and retail) in Germany, the UK, Italy and France were more than 20% higher than in September. In the UK and France, October sales grew by over 50% year-on-year whereas in Spain they fell by -6%. It is interesting to note that sales to SMB and business e-tail resellers during this month also grew, indicating a recovery in the business space. In Germany and Italy, sales to these channels grew by +44% and +35% year-on-year, respectively.
Desktop monitors: Consumer channel volume share by
price band, WE distribution
This year has also seen a change in the prices of models sold. Last year, the number of monitors costing less than €200 that distributors sold to consumer channels grew: this year’s increase has been driven by expensive models. Over 26% of monitors sold in October 2020 had 27" screens, but the largest growth was in sales of those with 23.8", 34" or 49" screens. Sales of portable 15.6" screens also increased significantly.
Gaming monitor sales were already growing before the pandemic, and the new circumstances have only accelerated this well-established trend. Increasing competition between vendors offering more and more exciting, high-spec (165Hz and above) models has not only fuelled interest but also pushed prices down, further spurring demand. In October, almost 20% of monitors sold to consumer channels had a refresh rate of 75Hz (a sales increase of +230% year-on-year), 10% were 144Hz models, over 4% were 165Hz, and 2% had an even higher refresh rate of 240Hz. The average selling price of monitors with the most popular screen sizes and high refresh rates was 10% lower than in the same period last year.
With October and November seeing the greatest demand for monitors, Q4 volume sales are expected to remain strong. However, after quarters of growth, the gradual slowdown in the monitor market, and component shortages, will trigger more aggressive behaviour from vendors – and any increased price competition may affect desktop monitor revenues into next year.
Higher spec devices drive huge growth in sales of consumer monitors
London, 09 Oct 2020 – Sales of monitors through distributors in Western Europe (WE) continue to thrive and grew +15% year-on-year in early Q3 2020*, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
London, 09 Oct 2020 – Sales of monitors through distributors in Western Europe (WE) continue to thrive and grew +15% year-on-year in early Q3 2020*, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Since the beginning of Q2 2020, demand has been driven by consumer models. Sales of these grew by +38% year-on-year in early Q3 2020, generating revenues that were +46% higher than in the same period last year, as result of a surge in demand for more expensive, high spec, gaming monitors.
Sales of business monitors were still below 2019 levels, registering –1% growth. However, this figure hides improvements in August and the first weeks of September after a weak July. Most sales are to small and medium resellers and business etailers. Those to corporate resellers remain weak with volumes smaller than in the previous year although here, too, the situation is improving week by week. Many companies plan to restart projects as the year ends, and investment from government in some WE countries will also help the business segment to recover.
Desktop monitors: weekly sales growth by target customer, WE distribution
In both the consumer and business segments, growth is particularly visible in the higher price ranges. The business market currently seems to be driven by sales to consumer channels, showing that, while businesses are still struggling, vendors and distributors are trying to offset lost opportunities by selling all types of products to consumers through retail and etail. In fact, sales of business models to retail almost doubled in early Q3 2020. Most of these were of the most popular screen sizes, such as 23.8 inches and 27 inches, but sales of 21.5-inch monitors were also up. Growth in sales of business monitors finally picked up in the low-end (<€100) what was also driven by increased demand from consumer channels. Despite increased interest in high-spec and all-in-one docking monitors, the need for home-office equipment is pushing vendors and distributors to supply more entry-level and mainstream models at the most affordable prices. Unfortunately, there are shortages of display panels for some common screen sizes and this has further increased competition in this segment.
In the consumer space, models priced by distributors at above €250 saw the highest growth. In this price bracket, it’s not about 144 Hz any more but about 165 Hz or even higher, like 240 Hz refresh rates. As the number of new models increases and competition heats up, prices are going down: this is helping to maintain momentum and boost demand.
Desktop monitors: year-on-year unit sales growth by
price band, WE distribution
Vendors and distributors continue to be concerned about the extent to which demand may have peaked in the first quarters of 2020 and the effect this may have on Q4, which is traditionally the strongest quarter of the year. However, new restrictions and lockdowns across WE in response to a second wave of the pandemic may push those who haven’t yet invested in their home-office set-ups into the market. Remote working may become more of a permanent state than the temporary solution everyone might have once thought it.
* Early Q3 excludes last week of September (W40)

Consumer printers achieve robust double-digit growth in August sales
London, 05 Oct 2020 – Demand driven by remote working and distance learning has kept the printer market rising through August, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Despite summer holidays, August consumer printer sales grew by +17.3% year-on-year, driven by models targeted at consumers. There was high double-digit growth in laser multifunction printers (MFPs) with the biggest increase (+43.9%), followed by inkjet SFPs (+36.3%), and a more modest improvement for inkjet MFPs (+15.7%) and +3.8% in sales of single-function laser printers (laser SFPs). Back-to-school shopping has been an important factor in increased sales to consumers.
Graph 1: Consumer printer volume sales: Y/Y change
by category – WE distribution
The month saw notable increases in volume sales of consumer printers to retailers, etailer consumers and small and medium resellers as resellers stocked up for this year’s back-to-school season. Sales to retailers, which account for 61% of overall sales in August, were up by +15.8%, but it was etailer consumers that performed best; their growth of +34.7% was followed by the +30.6% of small and medium resellers.
Spain, Italy and France are the main drivers of the Western European consumer printer market, and all registered outstanding volume growth in August – although this came on the back of weak performance in same period last year. The market in Spain grew the most, with printer sales targeted to consumers up by +128% on the same period last year, followed by Italy (+69.4%) and France (+43.4%).
In Germany, sales of consumer-targeted printers declined in August (-11.9%), continuing the trend that started in June and is mainly due to the negative performance of inkjet MFPs (-11.1%) and laser SFPs (-41.4%) which together account for 83.1% of sales in this country.
Similarly, a decline in sales of inkjet MFPs (-40.1%) and laser SFPs (-58.6%), which together account for about 95% of sales in August, heavily impacted the United Kingdom’s overall sales performance (-39.5%).
Graph 2: Consumer printer volume sales: Y/Y change
by country – major WE economies
It is a matter of debate whether this uptick is a short-term trend or if the way people and organisations will purchase printers in future is beginning to change. However, Covid infection rates are rising again (at an exponential daily rate in some countries) and the threat of new lockdowns across Europe is real, so we expect that the demand for consumer printers will remain strong in the months to come.
Sales of consumer and single-function printers surge during pandemic
London, 07 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. The sudden rise – to meet the demand created by widespread lockdowns – prompted an impressive increase in sales of inkjet SFPs (single-function printers). Distributors also sold more consumer printers than in the same period last year.
London, 07 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. The sudden rise – to meet the demand created by widespread lockdowns – prompted an impressive increase in sales of inkjet SFPs (single-function printers). Distributors also sold more consumer printers than in the same period last year.
Although inkjet SFPs saw the biggest year-on-year improvement, sales of inkjet MFPs (multifunction printers) also increased during March, as did those of laser MFPs – albeit on a more modest scale. Laser SFPs followed a different course, with sales falling and remaining below those seen in 2019.
Graph 1: Printer volume sales: Y/Y change by category – WE distribution
The sudden rise and fall in sales of inkjet SFPs contrasts with the consistently flat performance of these devices in the first half of last year: sales were up by +45.6% in March but distributors sold more than ten thousand fewer units in May 2020 than in May 2019. This suggests that increased demand caused a supply shortage. Sales of inkjet MFPs, consistently the most popular printers, also spiked in March. It is possible that increased demand for inkjet SFPs was prompted by distributors and vendors reaching the end of their supply of inkjet MFPs near the start of July.
Pricing may also have been a factor as average selling price (ASP) of inkjet SFPs fell between January and April, then rose in May and June before falling again in July pushing sales back up to a level corresponding to a +9.4% year-on-year increase. The March sales increase for these products came in the middle of this ASP decline, whilst the subsequent reduction in sales coincided with the restoration of higher prices.
Graph 2: Inkjet SFPs volume sales & ASP – WE distribution
Inkjet SFPs in the 100 to 150 euro price band performed well in both quarters, with sales increasing by +50.4% year-on-year in Q1 and +26% in Q2. This positive trend continued into July when growth increased again to +44.3%.
Business and consumer products contributed equally to the March inkjet SFP sales spike. However, in Western Europe, overall sales to business-targeted models declined by -11.1% in the first quarter and by -20.1% in the second. Meanwhile, the consumer-targeted printers increased by +14.6% in the first quarter but only +4.9% in the second reflecting the softening of the market as spring turned into summer. Most inkjet printers sold are MFPs, and the pandemic has affected sales of business and consumer inkjet MFPs in quite different ways. The growth in sales of consumer models reached a height of +36.3% year-on-year, with ink-tank devices doing particularly well. Meanwhile, sales of the equivalent business printers, far from being boosted, fell steadily, with the year-on-year decline increasing from -5.7% in February to -32.9% in May, -19.2% in June, and -43.6% in July.
Given the pandemic, it is not surprising that consumer models have performed well and that the overall market has been challenging. Developments in the next few months will continue to shape sector-specific growth and determine both how long the consumer boom lasts and whether the business sector makes a good recovery.
Distributors see boom in ink-tank printer sales during COVID-19 pandemic
London, 05 Aug 2020 – Western Europe’s distributors sold an unprecedented number of ink-tank printers in the second quarter of 2020, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
London, 05 Aug 2020 – Western Europe’s distributors sold an unprecedented number of ink-tank printers in the second quarter of 2020, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
The increase reflects the continued growth of a technology that is relatively new in Europe. Marketed as a smart investment that delivers long-term savings, ink-tank printers appeal to users wishing to equip their homes with durable hardware. Control measures associated with the pandemic have, therefore, created conditions that favour adoption of these devices. Price increases resulting from a shortage of traditional consumer inkjet printers, and shortages of ink cartridges, have also encouraged uptake of ink-tank models.
The steadily increasing market share and the strong upward month-by-month sales trend suggest that ink-tank printers may well end the year with a higher share than last year’s 4.9%. In the second quarter of 2020, the number of traditional ink-cartridge printers sold fell year-on-year while ink-tank sales saw dramatic increases.
Ink-tank printers accounted for 6.6% of sales of inkjet units sold in Western Europe in the first half of 2020 (up +2.3 pts compared to the same period last year), and for 15.7% of inkjet revenue, with sales of ink-tank printers through the distribution channel increasing by +59.8%. This overall figure disguises the details of the trend: unit sales climbed throughout the spring, with year-on-year growth rates climbing from -11.1% in January to +89.6% in June.
Graph 1: Printer volume sales: Y/Y change by category – WE distribution
The year-on-year performance of ink-tank printers in the major Western European markets exploded in the second quarter, coinciding with lockdowns. In the first quarter, the number of units sold in Germany was down by -30.3% on the previous year; in the second quarter they were up by +110.7%. In the UK, they moved from +19.4% in the first quarter to +142.5% in the second; and in Italy from +69.5% to +149.3%. There was also a change in unit sales in France: from -14.9% to +70.3%.
Graph 2: Ink-tank printer volume sales: Y/Y change by country – major WE economies
The geographical spread of ink-tank printer sales in Western Europe largely follows the size of the market in each country with four of the Top 5 heading the list. Germany took 25.2% of ink-tank sales, representing a fall from its even bigger share of 36.2% in the first six months of 2019. Italy followed with 19.3%; the UK took 13.7%; and Spain 11.2%. Whilst the UK’s share held steady, Italy and Spain both increased their shares compared with the same period last year. France took only 2.7% of sales compared with 3.7% in the first half of 2019 – a smaller share than the other major countries in both years.
The mix of brands is steadily diversifying as more vendors explore Europe’s potential. Epson, an early champion of the technology, took 79.2% of the market in the first half of 2020; 24.1% of its inkjet units were ink-tank models, and they provided 41% of its revenues for the category. Other major vendors are making inroads: HP’s and Canon’s shares of the ink-tank market increased in H1 2020 compared with the first half of 2019 (8.8% and 5.9% share respectively).
Although the pandemic has encouraged uptake, there are other positive indicators – a diversifying share of the market across countries and across vendors – suggesting that ink-tank models are poised to steadily replace traditional consumer inkjet printers in Western Europe.

Germany leads enterprise networking sales recovery
London, 14 January 2021 – After a challenging year for enterprise networking, European revenues returned to typical levels in the last two months of 2020 according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Enterprise networking 4-week rolling revenue index
(average 4-week revenue 2019 = 100)
The 4-week rolling revenue value remained under that of the same week in 2019 from week 12 of 2020 until week 44 when it began to return to a more reasonable standard, almost matching the previous year. We are still not out of the crisis – sales in the last four weeks of 2020 are still below 2019 levels – but 4-week revenues are, for first time in a while, above the 2019 average, which is good news for the networking industry.
Enterprise networking 2020 4-week rolling revenue index by country
Germany is the main driver of the recovery with significantly improved revenues since week 44 of 2020. Networking in Germany has not been impacted as much by the pandemic as that in other countries, and the strong performance of the sector in the last two months of 2020 drove the increase in European revenues.
However, there is, as yet, no sign of an upward trend in the UK. This is partly because levels of working from home were higher here even before the pandemic (see graph below): with much of the workforce continuing to connect to corporate networks from offsite, businesses had no urgent need to invest in onsite networking infrastructure. Lockdowns also led to a significant reduction in the expansion of office space and this, too, had a negative effect on sales of networking products.
Percentage of employed persons working from home sometimes or usually
in 2019. Source: Cedefop
Enterprise switching 2020 4-week rolling revenue index by country
The main revenue stream in the enterprise networking sector is switching, the segment most impacted by the crisis. The pattern seen here follows that observed for the sector as a whole with the UK index hovering around the low sixties over the last three months of 2020 whilst Germany grew stronger and drove up revenues.
Enterprise wireless networking 2020 4-week rolling revenue index by country
Wireless networking was less impacted by soft demand as commercial, retail and hospitality spaces began to reopen in the summer. Here too, however, we see a recent positive trend across Germany and Europe with the UK failing to make the most of the end of year boost.
Germany is clearly leading the way to recovery and the same pattern has recently been seen in other countries including Spain, Italy and, to a lesser extent, France. Working from home and the economic slowdown have significantly affected the on-premises networking infrastructure market, especially the important switching segment, so the upward European trend at the end of 2020 is good news.
The recent rather low UK revenues are partly due to a heavily service-oriented economy: the financial impact of a workforce stuck at home is less than that seen in more industrial countries like Germany where factories need employees onsite and infrastructure investments to enable them to function and ensure economic continuity. In other words, the negative UK trend is not automatically a sign that the country has been more impacted by the crisis than the rest of Europe, the explanation instead lies in structural differences. With UK lockdowns in full force for at least another two months, we are not expecting much change in the early weeks of 2021.
Consumer channel drives client SSD growth
London, 23 October 2020 – Although the overall client SSD market has seen low demand during the pandemic, lockdowns and home working have had a positive effect on consumer-channel sales, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
London, 23 October 2020 – Although the overall client SSD market has seen low demand during the pandemic, lockdowns and home working have had a positive effect on consumer-channel sales, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Client SSDs: Year-on-year Revenue Growth
The impact of the pandemic on the client SSD market is clear when we look at revenues: growth in the first quarter has been followed by two quarters of year-on-year revenue declines. However, some of the strong demand in Q1 2020 was a result of the news of supply disruption as China and Korea felt the first effects of COVID in January. Sales were up as resellers aimed to put themselves in a position to overcome any problems with PC component supply chains.
Client SSDs: Revenue Share by Type of Customer
The CONTEXT distribution panel shows the dynamics of the pandemic-impacted client SSD market. Revenues from consumer-oriented customers – retail chains and consumer etailers – are growing by +7.2% year-on-year whereas those from the business channel – small and medium resellers and business-focused etailers – have dropped by more than -20% compared to the same period last year. This is not unexpected given that business closures and economic slowdowns are affecting the ability of small and medium businesses to invest in computer equipment while a workforce based at home – and negotiating technology access with other members of their family – is purchasing more home-PC components.
1TB NVMe Revenue Share by Type of Customer
Digging further into the client SSD market data, we discover that the greatest growth in Q3 2020 is in sales of 1TB NVMe products. In fact, with +39% additional revenue year-on-year, this is the only type of SSD with increased sales; 63.9% of them were through the consumer channel, up from 52.9% a year ago. These products are not the cheapest – an average 1TB SATA SSD, for example, costs 30% less – and this tells us that the people driving up sales care more about performance than price. It seems that gamers and geeks spending more time than usual at home during the pandemic have been buying high-spec SSDs and so having a significant effect on the nature of the client SSD market. |
Client SSD Price per GB (Euro)
Another interesting SSD data set is the price per GB, which is playing its part in the decline of revenues over the third quarter. The cost of 1GB of storage has fallen -12% between Q3 2019 and Q3 2020. Capacity demand is, therefore, not as low as the revenue drop suggests: distributors report that it has actually been flat year-on-year. The Q1 spike in price per GB is a result of the high demand seen during that quarter, and the sharp drop in Q3 could be a consequence of resellers reducing prices to get rid of excess stock following low demand in Q2 and Q3.
We expect the consumer channel will continue to drive the client SSD market over the coming quarters as some countries in Europe reimpose lockdowns. However, the decrease in the price per GB will certainly make it easier for financially uncertain businesses to make greater investments than in the last two quarters and this will also have a positive effect on SSD sales.
Coronavirus crisis continues to boost sales of endpoint and network security products
London, 30 Sept 2020 – Sales of enterprise security products in Europe continue to be impacted by the COVID crisis, with businesses updating endpoints and networks to make sure employees can work securely from home, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
London, 30 Sept 2020 – Sales of enterprise security products in Europe continue to be impacted by the COVID crisis, with businesses updating endpoints and networks to make sure employees can work securely from home, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.
Enterprise security products 4-week-rolling revenue – Y/Y change, Europe
After remarkable growth in March, April and May, European sales of enterprise security products seemed to have slowed in June. However, there has been significant growth since the start of July, when it became obvious to businesses that the workforce would stay at home for a longer period of time, and 4-week-rolling revenues for week 30 showed particularly strong growth.
Enterprise security products 4-week-rolling revenue
– 2020 Y/Y change, France and UK
France and the UK are the main drivers of the European enterprise security market, and there was significant growth in both countries during July and at the beginning of August. (Although year-on-year revenue increases in France were already high in June, this was partly due to a rather weak performance in June 2019.)
Enterprise security products 4-week-rolling revenue
– 2020 Y/Y change, by segment
Endpoint security revenues grew more than those from network security products and saw a peak in week 30. While trends in both main segments of the enterprise security are similar, the protection of endpoints is a priority for businesses while so many people are working from home.
Endpoint security – week 23 to week 2020 Y/Y growth by solution type
While sales of traditional endpoint protection platforms – such as Internet security suites that include antivirus, anti-malware and other features – continue to grow significantly, those of endpoint detection and response solutions – which have more advanced capabilities and are able to detect and respond to less traditional cybersecurity threats – are also increasing.
With employees working away from the office during the COVID crisis, security challenges have increased massively. Companies can act by protecting endpoints, and increasing sales of security products show they are doing just that. However, new challenges arise from the behaviour of a home-based workforce: for example, mixing personal and professional tasks on a corporate computer increases risks from scam emails. Ownership and responsibility for security has begun to move from the usual corporate bubble to the individual. With companies talking about permanently increasing the number of employees working from home, the associated challenges will create new opportunities for security vendors.

Pent-up demand set to drive 3D printer shipment growth in 2021
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. However, quarterly totals lagged behind those for 2019 and, for these key groups, were down by −12%, −11% and −21% year-on-year. The robust demand from shut-in consumers and working-from-home professionals for finished-good Personal 3D printers seen in the first half of the year settled down a bit in the third quarter but, although shipments were −7% down on Q2 2020, they were up +2% from the same period in the previous year.
Quarterly Global 3D Printer System Unit Shipments by Price Class (individual scales) |
The fourth quarter saw new mitigation efforts in many Western countries. This delayed a more robust rebound, and a significant recovery is not now expected until the second half of 2021 when vaccine distribution has been ramped up around the globe. While not as harsh on many businesses as the lockdowns seen in the first half of the year, fourth-quarter shelter-in-place orders still limited international and regional business travel and caused many companies to keep near-term capital expenditure on hold thereby limiting new 3D printer installations and new orders in 2020. Nonetheless, many companies have reported strong interest and pent-up demand, sparking expectations of a post-pandemic bump in 2021.
Industrial
Most all of the Top 10 3D printer vendors – including the Western companies 3D Systems, Carbon, EOS, HP, Markforged, Roboze and Stratasys – saw a sequential rise in unit shipments in Q3 2020 with double-digit growth in most cases. China-based companies such as Farsoon, HBD and UnionTech, which were already on their way to recovery in Q2, registered shipment levels rising above those seen a year before. Newcomers to the category like Flashforge, Nexa3D and Origin (recently acquired by Stratasys) also helped improve printer shipments for the quarter.
Design
While June–September is usually the weakest period for Design printer sales, in Q3 2020 shipments rose +16% from their nadir in Q2. Stratasys and 3D Systems, who lead this category in terms of volume sales, saw nice sequential shipment growth. The other leading vendor in this category, EnvisionTEC, also reported year-on-year revenue growth but noted success more from accelerated utilization rather than by way of increased printer sales thus far.
Professional
Professional 3D printing enjoyed strong demand in H1 2020 from people working from home but this was muted in Q3. While vendors like Markforged, Photocentric, Raise3D, Stratasys (with part of its MakerBot line) and others enjoyed double-digit year-on-year shipment growth, the total number of this type of printer shipped globally was −12% less than the previous year. The trend toward more feature-rich, expensive products continued, led by unit-volume leaders Ultimaker and Formlabs.
Personal
While historically dominated by the material extrusion FDM/FFF devices that still accounted for 79% of desktop printers sold in Q3 2020, LCD-based vat photopolymerization printers remained a hot category with +42% more of these being shipped globally than the year before. Taiwan’s Phrozen and China’s Longer 3D were standout vendors in this period. Kits* (DIY products typically selling for <$500 and not accounted for in the graph above) continued to take share from fully assembled printers, with China’s Creality remaining far and away the global leader in terms of unit volumes.
2021 and beyond
The industry is itching to showcase itself again at both regional and global events. Many companies held back from announcing new products in 2020 in the hope of show-and-tell, in-person launch opportunities in 2021. Major 3D printing events (such as RAPID+TCT, AMUG and FORMNEXT) were cancelled or scaled back in 2020 but are gearing up for strong attendance whenever and wherever allowed to take place in 2021. Companies continue to report new interest from net-new vertical markets and are hopefully anticipating that this interest will turn into capital equipment purchases in 2021 and beyond.
Metal binder jetting in the Industrial price-class segment and composite 3D printing in Industrial, Design and Professional price points are key printer segments to watch in 2021 with new and established companies’ alike shipping new printers in these categories. With Desktop Metal, HP and others joining ExOne and Digital Metal in championing binder jetting for serial production of metal parts, this is a technology that looks likely to make significant advances in the year ahead. New vendors of composites printers – currently dominated by Markforged in the Professional and Design price categories – are set to push this category forward in the coming year as well. Portfolio expansion – best exemplified by Stratasys’ expansion of their SLA efforts and forthcoming entrance into powder bed fusion polymers – should also help re-grow the global 3D printer market. Other companies look set to grow by focusing on existing technologies and industries that have already adopted 3D printing: for example, 3D Systems has taken the strategic decision to focus on Healthcare (including dental) and Industrial markets (such as for volume-serial production) with progress already announced against that goal in Q4.
In the longer term, metal and polymer printers focused on volume production are set to lead the growth of the 3D printing industry. Revenue growth from Industrial 3D printer system shipments (which accounted for 63% of global hardware revenues in Q3 2020) are projected to increase by a solid +15% year-on-year in 2021 and see a four-year CAGR of +19% to 2024. Within that, strong areas of bullishness are technologies specifically focused on volume production, including powder bed fusion (SLS, MJF, HSS, etc.) and vat photopolymerization (SLA, DLP, DLS/CLIP, etc.) for polymers, and binder jetting for metals.
Industrial Printer System Revenue Forecast by Material and Process
* Price-class categorization of Personal, Professional, Design and Industrial based on fully-assembled, finished-good products; Kits not shown here.
China and Desktop 3D Printer markets lead the way for longer U-shaped recovery
London, 14 Oct 2020 – Latest CONTEXT market intelligence highlights varying impact of the global pandemic on the 3D printer industry in Q2 2020
LONDON, 14 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. These trends give hope to an otherwise depressed 3D printer market that saw hardware revenues fall by -27% from a year ago.
Shipments of high-end and mid-range 3D printers (that is, those in the $100K+ Industrial and $20K–$100K Design price classes) stalled significantly as businesses in the West put capital expenditures on hold and large parts of key industries were still paused. However, demand for Professional price-class printers ($2.5K–$20K) remained strong as people continued to work from home. Hobby-level Personal printers (<$2.5K) were also in demand and shipments of these are no longer hampered by supply-chain limitations now that production in China has resumed. Aggregate revenues from new printer shipments rose marginally from Q1 to Q2 (by +5%) but were down -27% from Q2 2019. Industrial printer sales accounted for 62% of global finished-good revenues in the period.
Chart 1: Global 3D Printer Shipment Revenues by Price Class
Industrial price class (≥ $100K)
As China came back on-line in Q2 2020, so too did demand for Industrial printers. Indeed, many Chinese vendors reported seeing shipments not just rise compared to Q1 but also witnessed even higher shipment rates than a year ago. While overall shipments improved slightly from Q1 to Q2 thanks mostly to a bounce back in China, they remained very low in Western markets resulting in total shipments in the class down -38% from a year ago. This portion of the market was already facing negative headwinds at the end of 2019, prior to the onset of the pandemic, but vendors are noting accelerated interest following the important role that 3D printing played in the heart of pandemic shutdowns.
Almost all non-Chinese top 20 Industrial printer companies saw sizable year-on-year declines in the number of units shipped – with the notable exception of metal machine producer SLM Solutions. China’s UnionTech, Farsoon and HBD saw not only a sequential rise in shipments but also saw shipment totals actually greater than last year. Germany’s SLM Solutions has come back nicely from their reset year last year and were shipping against orders placed prior to the onset of the pandemic. While some vendors reported a slight sequential rebound in shipments, most saw a double-digit year-on-year drop in shipments from a year ago.
Design price class ($20K–$100K)
With 78% of this class of printers being shipped to Western countries, and with US and European economies effectively on hold throughout at least April and May, this segment faced significant challenges. Key end-markets, such as the dental industry, were largely closed down, severely impacting demand. As Western markets slowly began to re-open in June, demand rebounded slowly but unit-volume shipments were still down -34% on the previous year. The leaders in this segment, 3D Systems and Stratasys, accelerated layoffs in response to the pandemic and used the period to reset strategy.
Chart 2: Industrial and Design 3D Printer Shipments and
Y/Y Growth by Region
Professional price class ($2.5K–$20K)
The strong Q1 demand for this type of printer, which arose from new homeworking scenarios, continued into Q2. Buyers are looking for ever-more professional products with even more robust feature sets. This has pushed average street prices up and allowed printer revenues to rise nicely even while shipments are only marginally better than a year ago. Weighted average prices for these printers have risen +15% since the beginning of 2019 making this the only price class to see year-on-year revenue growth (of +7%) in Q2 2020.
Personal price class (≤ $2.5K - excludes DIY kit printers)
Many products in this class either come directly from China or are highly dependent on supply chains associated with the country. While demand from quarantined hobbyists increased in Q1 2020, supplies were limited and, thus, new-product shipments were significantly hindered. This changed in Q2 when Chinese production came back online leading to a quarter-on-quarter shipment surge of +68%. While, in recent quarters, the finished-good market has been losing share to the growing kits market (dominated by Chinese players like Creality and which also saw great sequential shipment growth), Q2 was the first period since the beginning of 2018 in which non-kit printer shipments grew year-on-year, up +2% from Q2 2019.
Looking forward
While the market for new printers in a few key areas was challenging, the demands made of the installed base of printers in all price ranges increased as they were used to create pandemic-related items ranging from PPE to nasopharyngeal swabs. While this could not fully compensate for lost demand from closed markets (such as consumer products, education and the dental and automotive industries), it clearly demonstrated the flexibility of the technology showing how it can be leveraged to help overcome supply-chain disruptions and could, in future, be so used across many industries. While recovery in the West is proving to be slower than some had anticipated, vendors have been reporting renewed interest in the technology throughout Q3 – from new sectors as well as known markets. They are hopeful that this interest will turn into Q4 orders: the final quarter typically accounts for 29%+ of each year’s shipments but it is now anticipated that it will account for 36%+ of those in 2020. The challenge to fulfilling these expectations is that key in-person events such as Germany’s FORMNEXT, where many large deals have historically been finalised, remain virtual as the West continues to deal with the pandemic.
Work-From-Home scenarios represent only net positive for 3D printer shipments otherwise heavily impacted by the pandemic
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.
V-shaped recovery expected for shipments of Personal 3D printer shipments; longer recovery anticipated for Industrial and Design printers; shipments of Professional 3D printers continue to climb.
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.
Shipments of printer hardware in the high-revenue Design* and Industrial* price classes were significantly down from last year during the first quarter, mostly because of reduced demand from key vertical end-markets where operations have been paused. Conversely, shipments of Professional* printers market fared much better, thanks both to strong end-market demand and little disruption from its own supply base. The top vendors of Professional printers are less reliant on OEM production in China or from components sourced from the region so were not hampered by supply-chain interruptions. This, along with continuing high demand, led to shipments in this price class increasing by +12% compared to a year ago.
While the non-kit Personal* market has struggled of late, demand for these products also increased in the quarter as hobbyists look for a way to fill their time while sequestered at home or produce PPE to support their community’s battle against the virus. However, much of this demand remained unmet in Q1 2020 because many entry-level printers include components from, or are entirely produced in, China.
With Chinese factories largely closed, production was simply not possible and unit shipments were down by -38% on Q1 2019 according to CONTEXT. The rising kits market was even harder hit by these supply-chain issues, and some saw shipments fall by as much as -75% on the previous year. Although industry in China has bounced back, and preliminary reports project a production surge, this only impacts the lowest-end products and many vendors of higher-end Design and Industrial printers are actually expecting the second quarter of the year to have been more difficult than the first because their end-markets have been severely impacted by fallout from the pandemic.
Industrial price class
Accounting for 68% of global 3D printer hardware revenues in 2019, the Industrial price class faced challenges in sectors such as automotive and general manufacturing in H2 2019 – so it was already fighting headwinds at the start of 2020. While rolling business shutdowns began in the East and did not affect the West until the end of Q1 2020, shipments of higher-priced products are often concentrated toward the end of the quarter and lockdowns therefore affected global figures for the period as a whole. Customers in many key end-markets – including automotive, aerospace, dental, healthcare, consumer products, movie props and education – were effectively closed down and/or immediately and severely cut back their near-term capital expenditure. While initial expectations were that Chinese companies selling domestically would be the most severely affected in the first quarter, the impact was felt by almost every major printer company. Companies including industry leaders 3D Systems, Stratasys, EOS, UnionTech, HP and GE saw double-digit declines on the previous year’s global shipments. There were also logistical issues: service and sales personnel could not travel either internationally or domestically to help with final installations. New printer shipments in this class dropped -30% from Q1 2019. However, business complications associated with the global reaction to the pandemic were not uniform and there were a few bright spots. Some vendors selling $1M+ printers – which typically have long lead times – reported shipment increases based on opportunities booked last year.
Design price class
Key end-markets for this type of printer, such as jewellery and dental businesses, were all but shut down across the globe, severely impacting demand for new machines. This class of printer is used for prototyping in many industries but, in the face of uncertainty around work stoppages, many companies quickly halted research and development activities and the purchase of expensive equipment to use for such tasks was put on hold. This resulted in -37% fewer Design printers shipping in Q1 2020 than in the same period of the previous year.
Professional price class
As employment shifted to homeworking, the demand for reasonably priced professional printers surged in much the same way as that for webcams, notebook PCs and other “work-from-home” hardware. Unlike Industrial and Design models, most Professional 3D printers are typically desktop or benchtop sized and do not require specific ventilation or industrial-standard work areas, making them ideal for use in the home office. This sector was already doing well: over the past few years, the top companies in the class, including Ultimaker and Formlabs, have not only seen demand rise but have also invested in improving hardware and this has allowed them to compete on a revenue basis with some of the largest 3D printer companies in the world. Long-time heavyweights such as Stratasys and 3D Systems have recently re-entered this market. As a result, 2019 printer unit shipments were +17% up on the previous year and this momentum continued into the first part of 2020. The sector saw additional demand from consumers and hobbyists unable to purchase Personal printers, and growth was possible because key vendors in this sector are less reliant on Chinese components meaning supply-chain limitations had little impact.
Personal price class
While finished-good printers in this class have recently been losing ground to even cheaper build-it-yourself kits (such as those from Creality3D and from Prusa Research), demand boomed in Q1 2020. Some of this came from engineers and designers working from home, but more came from hobbyists, particularly in the US and Europe. These were people eager to find new hobbies to try while quarantined, or/and who wanted to produce whatever PPE they could: for example, by printing simple face shields which, while not meeting the rightly stringent needs of medical institutions, could support others in the local community.
Chart 1: Quarterly global finished-good 3D-Printer unit shipments
by Price Class (note individual scales)
Looking forward
Production of the lowest-priced Personal printers was already rebounding quickly in May and June, and there are reports of new hires being made in factories from China to the Czech Republic to help fulfil unmet demand. This production explosion points to a V-shaped recovery for shipments of this type of printer. Shipments of Professional 3D printers have hardly skipped a beat during the pandemic, and growth in the class is expected to continue. The impact of COVID-19 on key vertical markets for Industrial and Design printers was still severe in the second quarter and, with fears of a resurgence of the virus continuing to affect the decisions such businesses are making about capital expenditure, the trough in demand will, potentially, be more prolonged. Shipments of new products from the likes of Desktop Metal, Xerox and Stratasys, and the general trend toward strong purchasing in the fourth quarter, leave Industrial 3D printer vendors hopeful for a rebound in the second half of the year. It also looks as if interest in binder jetting for metals – in machines such as those currently offered by ExOne and Digital Metal and, in the near future, to come from GE Additive, Desktop Metal and HP – will aid the turnaround.
While increases may take a while to materialise, forward-thinking companies are expecting a U-shaped recovery in printer shipments and are already betting on a future demand surge. Investments in new companies and new technologies – such as the private equity money raised by rising metal company VELO3D – give strong indications that the outlook for long-term post-pandemic growth is bullish. The 3D printing market has also benefitted from increased public awareness during the crisis, as companies demonstrated the flexibility of the technology by quickly pivoting production, and this supports expectations that a demand bump will emerge in time, no matter when the near-term recovery takes place.
Chart 2: Historical and forecasted revenues from global
printer shipments by class ($M)
* 3D printer price classes: Industrial ≥ $100K, Design = $20K–$100K, Professional = $2.5K–$20K, Personal ≤ $2.5K (excludes DIY kit printers)
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