Research conducted by InfoSource has revealed that East Africa “represents a growth region for printer manufacturers”, as IT-ONLINE reveals.
Vendors, distributors and resellers are faced with the pleasing prospect of “growing demand for production and office printer equipment sales and services”, in addition to a variety of other regional factors which make East Africa ripe for industry growth.
“The key players need quality information that helps them find the right partners, support the right equipment, and develop the right set of skills to support the dominant markets in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and their neighbours,” explained Chris de Beer, Africa regional manager at InfoSource.
He also stated that “regional factors are overall positive and indicate enormous potential for print vendors and their partners”.
“Our local investigations over the past few years continued to divulge several revealing insights about various aspects of the sector in East Africa,” says De Beer. “The corruption clampdown in Kenya, for example, has impacted the industry there in several ways, including slowing the pace at which government tenders are awarded.
“The majority of the copier/MFP market is largely based on dropping boxes across East Africa, while in Uganda growth is generally phenomenal, albeit off a low base.”
This difference between different countries in the region is evident, with research discovering that “colour production equipment” is more popular than mono in Kenya, while in Uganda sales of black and white copier and MFP units have been on the rise, in contrast to Tanzania.
“Few vendors are directly represented in Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda,” concludes De Beer.
“Market growth therefore signals that exceptional partnerships with the right companies mark a significant advantage over rivals.”
