London, 12 July 2021 –  The rise in demand for mobile devices resulting from the coronavirus pandemic has led to significant changes in the PC workstation volume mix, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company. Notebooks became the dominant form factor at the end of last year and accounted for 60% of all workstations sold through Western Europe’s largest distributors by early Q2 2021, compared to 49% one year ago.

These changes followed strong growth of mobile-device sales in 2020 and Q1 2021 coupled with significant declines in those of deskbound products. In April and May 2021 the number of notebooks sold increased again – by +81% year-on-year. Desktop sales also grew in this period but by a smaller amount.

The three leading workstation vendors working through distributors – HP, Lenovo and Dell – all saw their workstation mix change during the pandemic, although to varying degrees. In early Q2 2021, mobile devices accounted for 58% of HP’s workstation mix while they made up 70% of Lenovo’s and 53% of Dell’s.

The shift to mobile devices has been driven by continual improvements to product performance over the past few years and was boosted in 2020 and H1 2021 by changes in working patterns in response to the pandemic. Demand in the segment is expected to stay high as digitalisation progresses across a number of industries and the need for computing power to manage complex tasks increases.

Y/Y workstation volume growth: Western European distribution

Workstation form-factor mix by volume: Western European distribution

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

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. 

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.

London, 27 August 2021 – July saw printer sales through European distributors fell sharply by -6.8% year-on-year. Even so, the revenue generated during this month increased by +0.8% driven by business inkjet MFP sales, according to the latest data published by CONTEXT, the IT market intelligence company.

Supply chain disruptions and low inventory levels impacted all categories resulting in sharp declines in sales and revenue for laser and inkjet single-function printers (SFPs). However, in spite of a small fall in the number of units sold (−1.4%), revenues from inkjet MFPs grew by +13.4% thanks to a shortage of laser printers in the > EUR 300 price range leading to increased sales of business models and more expensive consumer devices.

Germany was the only one of the Top 5 Western European economies to see business inkjet MFP sales decline in July (−22.4%). Elsewhere, returns to the workplace and the rebalancing of IT budgets toward office equipment boosted sales of these devices.

Graph 1: Change in inkjet MFP sales volume and revenue – European distribution

Sales of ink-tank MFPs, which have been growing since the beginning of the pandemic, increased by +12.4% and revenue climbed at an even faster rate (+31%) as people purchased more of the reasonably priced business ink-tanks that have been released recently.

Ink-cartridge MFPs saw overall revenue growth of +9.5%, benefiting from restored demand for business printers, sales of which were up by +18.7% year-on-year and revenue by +11.4%.

Graph 2: Inkjet MFP revenue change by ink system – European distribution

Overall inkjet MFP figures were affected by severe shortages of consumer and entry-level business printers at the beginning of Q2. In May, manufacturers began to increase shipments of these products to address the backlog and new orders, leading sales and revenue to pick up in June (by +35.6% and +54.7%, respectively). Demand for these models remained high in July, although the product mix shifted toward more expensive devices – particularly mid-range and high-end business printers which still have reasonably good availability. Higher prices for entry-level business inkjet printers also contributed to solid revenue growth. Ongoing disruption to component production lines and the supply chain, container shortages, and rising shipping costs will lead to continuing shortages and volatile supply in the distribution channel so the prices of mid-range and high-end business inkjet MFPs can be expected to increase in turn.

London, 29 July 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.

Consumer printers, which were in very short supply during April and May, saw increased year-on-year sales in June 2021 thanks to deliveries from manufacturers addressing the backlog of orders leading to growth of +21% in terms of units.

June was also a good month for the business printer segment. Growth of +11% was driven by sales of multifunction printers and in line with that seen in May (+12.9%), although there were differences in the product mix between inkjet and laser devices.

Graph 1: Printer sales volume change by target market – European distribution

The business inkjet category saw volume growth of +44.8% and revenue up by +52.8% with increased sales of entry-level and mid-range printers (costing less than €600). The laser category, on the other hand, completely shifted gear at the end of Q2: even though overall business laser sales were down by −17.2% in June (mainly as result of a shortage of entry-level devices), the revenue generated during this month increased by +5.1% year-on-year as companies and individuals purchased more expensive mid-range and high-end business printers (priced above €400) for reopened offices.

Graph 2: Change in laser MFP printer sales volumes and revenue – European distribution

With more people going back to the office and printing there, we expect increased demand for both hardware and toner in the months to come – although it is difficult to differentiate between true demand and potential duplicated orders due to (over-)reaction to low supply. There are still reasonable stock levels for mid-range and high-end laser printers, and numbers are secure for Q3 2021. However, whether there will be further growth in Q4 in this segment depends on the ability of manufacturers to produce these printers and address increased demand.

The distribution channel is facing shortages and volatile supply due to disruption in the supply chain and component production lines. Manufacturers are more likely to allocate and sell components such as microchips to more profitable industries (such as the automotive sector) in times of scarcity. Vendors will try to optimise profits by adjusting their product mix, shifting production between inkjet and laser printers (depending on component availability) when possible. The components shortage will also impact printer production time, stretching the average from the usual four weeks to as much as four months. In addition, a container shortage and increased shipping costs means that price increases are expected across hardware and consumables at all levels. With distributors able to select the deals that generate the best margins, the increased costs will, ultimately, be borne by the final customer.

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.

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


 

                                         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.

30 years of 3D Printer Shipments in 30 seconds

3D Printer Shipments by System Revenues

Top 15 Process & Materials by Quarter

The 3D printer market* is often thought of as a single cohesive entity. Yet the reality is much different as you’ll see from this unique high-level view of industry trends over the past three decades. [Full animated graph available here]

ASTM International defines seven core types of additive manufacturing machines (aka 3D printers). Even within these types there are various vendor-specific variants, some of which can process a range of materials. By revenue sales, machines printing polymers (plastics) are most popular, followed by those printing metals.

Printer hardware prices range from a few hundred to millions of dollars. And you’ll also find a huge variety of sizes – with some as small as a PC inkjet printer and others as large as a warehouse.

The aggregate analysis shown here encompasses all of these printer types sorted by new units shipped per quarter multiplied by their system price (aka System Revenues). Using this measure, the rise in revenues of metal 3D printers over the past decade is immediately noticeable.

*Includes period-by-period, non-cumulative, global shipments of new, finished-good printers in all four CONTEXT price-class groupings; PERSONAL (<$2.5K), PROFESSIONAL ($2.5K-$20K), DESIGN ($20K-$100K) and INDUSTRIAL ($100K+). Personal DIY Kits not included.

Impact of COVID-19 on new 3D printer shipments inconsistent across sectors and regions in 2020

A strong rebound in China’s domestic economy, explosive worldwide growth in Kit & Hobby printer shipments, and Western government subsidies were not enough to overcome a difficult year for 3D printer shipment revenues 

LONDON, 15 April 2021 – The impact of COVID-19 on the global 3D printing industry in 2020 was vastly varied: there was new demand in some regions and sectors while business was significantly recessed in others. Worldwide revenue from 3D printing services reportedly grew marginally over the year, thus leading to nominal growth for the industry as a whole (that is, services, software, materials and printer system hardware combined) with some of this growth aided by way of much-needed local government subsidies in the West. Further clouding the nature of any revenue growth seen in 2020 was consolidation, a key trend for 2020 whereby companies grew by way of merger as opposed to by way of organic industry growth. Focusing just on printer hardware, revenue from global shipments of new printer systems fell −4% from 2019 levels, in spite of a strong rebound in China’s domestic economy that led to increased year-on-year sales of Industrial printers in that region; an explosion at the other end of the market in the Kit & Hobby sector across the globe; and a select few Western hardware manufacturers seeing spotty growth. New Industrial printers accounted for 52% of revenues from sales of systems but, with many key end-markets in the West delaying major capital expenditure until after the pandemic, revenue from this sector slid by −21% compared to 2019. Conversely, demand for consumer-centric kits selling for a few hundred dollars soared as many people looked for new hobbies to while away their time at home: revenues from this newly tracked segment almost doubled in 2020.

Chart 1: 3D Printer System Shipment Revenues by Class

INDUSTRIAL ($100K+)

Shipments of Industrial printers were marginally higher (+4%) in Q4 2020 than in the same period the previous year mostly because of increases in the domestic market in China (83% of printers sold in the country came from Chinese companies). While this Y/Y growth rate for the quarter was low, the good news is that sequential unit shipments continued to rise – as they have done since their nadir at the onset of the pandemic in Q1 2020 – with +24% more printers shipped in Q4 2020 than in Q3 2020. A year-on-year growth of +11% in the metal printers market during the last quarter of the year was mostly thanks to sales of new Binder Jetting printers in the West and increased shipments of Powder Bed Fusion models into China. Over the full year, Industrial printer shipments were down −21% with the only increases coming from lower-volume classes of metal printers including Directed Energy Deposition solutions (+9% more printers using this technology shipped globally in 2020 than in 2019) and Binder Jetting shipments (up +30% from 2019). Regionally, Chinese vendors recovered after the hard lockdown of Q1 2020, and saw shipments in this overall price class rise by +7%, while other companies – most of which are from the West (that is, the US and Europe or the US and Israel in the case of Stratasys) – saw collective unit shipments in this class drop by −29%. Most new Industrial printers still sold into North America (34% in 2020, down from 41% in 2019) but 30% went to China in 2020 thus moving it ahead of Western Europe. Leading vendors over the year in terms of unit volumes included UnionTech, Stratasys, HP, Carbon, EOS, 3D Systems, Farsoon, HBD, GE Additive and Desktop Metal.

DESIGN ($20K–$100K)

Design-class printer shipments were largely flat in Q4 2020 falling by only a marginal −1% compared to the same period the previous year. Once again, a greater number of printers were shipped to the US and Europe than to Asia with American companies Stratasys, 3D Systems and EnvisionTEC (recently acquired by Desktop Metal) continuing to lead the market. Total unit shipments for the full year were down −15% with industry leaders Stratasys and 3D Systems both challenged.

PROFESSIONAL ($2.5K–$20K)

While the first part of the year saw a surge in shipments of Professional printers, growth slowed in H2 2020 and shipments in the fourth quarter were actually down −16% from a year before. Demand from homeworkers was strong in H1 2020 but, over the year as a whole, shipments ended up being −6% down on 2019. Although some vendors (EnvisionTEC, for example) reported nice growth, market leaders Ultimaker and Formlabs both saw year-on-year falls in unit volumes. Even so, these two leading vendors saw revenues rise having introduced well-received products at higher price points in 2020. Composite 3D printers gained traction in this class during this year as well; the category has, until now, largely been owned by Markforged but key competitor Desktop Metal began shipping a composite model in Q4 2020.

PERSONAL (<$2.5K fully assembled)

Sales of cheaper, fully assembled printers have been on the wane over the past few years as demand shifted down to Kits or upward into the Professional class, but demand (and shipments) in this Personal class rebounded during the pandemic. In Q4 2020, total Personal 3D printer shipments rose by +49% from the year before thanks mostly to the explosion in interest in LCD models. There was strong demand throughout the year thanks to pandemic-related working and studying from home and increased hobby time. Factory closures (especially in China) caused problems in Q1 2020 but supply came roaring back in later quarters and resulted in a +49% year-on-year growth in shipments for this price class.

KIT & HOBBY (DIY self-assembly kits)

Companies such as China’s Creality 3D and the Czech Republic’s Prusa Research have helped to bring order to this difficult-to-quantify sector in recent years. DIY printer shipments exploded in 2020 with Creality 3D leading the charge, reportedly shipping over 1M units over the year (989K of which fall into this Kit & Hobby category with the rest being fully built units shown in the Personal price class). While shipments trailed off a bit in the final quarter, full-year data shows growth of +98% from 2019 to 2020. Creality 3D alone saw shipments increase by +116% and was so successful that their revenues outstripped those of most companies selling Industrial printers. As most kits are imported as parts, they often do not carry the same import duties as their finished-good counterparts, allowing them to be sold at ultra-low price points helping to encourage open architecture and the “tinkering” associated with hobbyists.

Chart 2: 3D Printer Shipments by Class
(Note separate scales)

2021 and beyond

With Industrial, Design and Professional printer shipments all trailing 2019 totals, 2020 was a difficult year for the higher end of the 3D printer market. Growth is set to return in 2021. While Design and Professional shipments are projected to rise even above pre-pandemic 2019 totals this year, US and European companies are still offering relatively conservative forecasts for the Industrial sector, predicting that while shipments will rise above last year, sales will continue to lag behind those of 2019. There is hopeful anticipation that growth will accelerate in H2 2021 and a full rebound of this market is now projected for 2022+. Further use of 3D printing for mass production is still the key for accelerating growth and technologies such as Powder Bed Fusion and Vat Photopolymerization (for plastics) and Binder Jetting (for metals) are poised to help with this push.

* Price-class categorisation of PERSONAL, PROFESSIONAL, DESIGN and INDUSTRIAL based on fully assembled, finished-good products; new KIT&HOBBY class defined by DIY assembly required.