In July and August, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and vendors of single-function printers and multifunction printers (MFPs) announced their financial results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2024.

Overall, the quarter ended in June 2024 looked a lot like the previous quarter (see “OEMs Deliver Mixed Results as They Strive to Manage Declining Demand for Print”). The U.S. based vendors (HP and Xerox) fared worst, saw declines in their print businesses, and lowered their full-year forecasts. In contrast, most (but not all) Japanese OEMs could boast of both revenue and profit growth as they continued to benefit from yen depreciation. Indeed, it seems the yen weakened more than many vendors had expected, especially against the dollar, fueling stronger-than-expected growth in the quarter and causing some Japanese OEMs to revise their full-year forecasts upward. China-based Ninestar also reported upbeat results, posting growth after a very rough FY 2023 in which it was impacted by the economic slowdown in China and a U.S. ban on importation of products made by certain Ninestar subsidiaries due to a finding that the firms used forced labor in violation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) (see “Ninestar Imports Banned by U.S. Government Due to Forced Labor Concerns”).

Still, it is important to bear in mind that Japanese vendors’ FOREX-fueled revenue and profit growth doesn’t mean the printer and supplies market is booming. IDC had been reporting steep declines in global hardcopy peripheral shipments for several quarters now (see “IDC Says Worldwide Hardcopy Peripheral Shipments Declined in Q1 2024 for Fourth Straight Quarter”). In the quarter ended in June, multiple several vendors pointed to declining unit shipments in some market segments; however, some firms outperformed their peers and saw unit growth in some categories.

Given the expectation that demand for print will continue to fall, nearly every single OEM focused on cost-cutting. Moreover, it seems most if not all OEMs are reducing their workforces. In recent months, we have seen talk of workforce reductions at Canon, Epson, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, and Xerox, and we would not be surprised to learn that other OEMs are doing the same.

Performance by Vendor

Actionable Intelligence currently covers financial results for the following printer OEMs: Brother, Canon, Epson, Fujifilm, HP, Konica Minolta, Kyocera, Ninestar, Ricoh, Sharp, Toshiba Tec, and Xerox. For all the Japanese OEMs, except Canon, the period from April 1, 2024, through June 30, 2024, was the first quarter. For Canon, U.S.-based Xerox, and China-based Ninestar, this period was the second quarter of fiscal 2024. HP is on a different financial calendar than all the other OEMs. Its third quarter of fiscal 2024 ran from May 1, 2024, through July 31, 2024.

Here, we look specifically at the performance of OEMs’ business segments that include home and office printer hardware, supplies, and related software and services.

Figure 1 presents a snapshot of the financial performance of OEMs’ printing businesses for their most recent quarter.

Figure 2 shows how OEMs’ printing businesses fared in terms of year-over-year revenue and profit growth or declines in their most recent quarter. For the last three quarters now seven vendors have reported both revenue and profit growth in their printing businesses, although the roster of vendors has changed from quarter to quarter (see “OEMs Deliver Mixed Results as They Strive to Manage Declining Demand for Print”and  “Most OEMs See Improved or Mixed Results in Latest Quarter”). For the quarter ended in June, vendors that saw both revenue and profit growth in their printing businesses include the following: Canon Printing Business, Epson Printing Solutions, Konica Minolta Digital Workplace Business, Kyocera Document Solutions, Ninestar (we look at Ninestar as a whole because almost all of it is focused on print), Sharp Smart Office Business, and Toshiba Tec Workplace Solution Business. Canon Printing Solutions, Kyocera Document Solutions, Sharp Smart Office Business, and Toshiba Tec Workplace Solution Business have consistently been on this list of “winners” over the last three quarters and prior to that as well. Ninestar is a new addition to this list with its latest quarterly results. While Brother Printing and Solutions has been listed among these firms most quarters, it was not for the quarter in June. Instead, it joined Fujifilm Business Innovation and Ricoh Digital Services among the three vendors reporting “mixed” results in their printing businesses—all three saw revenue grow but profits shrink in their latest quarter. While in our last quarterly comparison, four vendors reported revenue and profit declines in their printing businesses (Epson Printing Solution, HP Printing, Ninestar, and Xerox Print and Other), this quarter only two did—HP Printing and Xerox Print and Other.

Figures 3 and 4 show these same year-over-year percentage changes separately. Figure 3 shows year-over-year revenue growth or decline for the quarter. In general, most vendors’ printing businesses issued a stronger revenue performance this quarter than they did last quarter. Last quarter, only Toshiba Tec Workplace Solutions reported double-digit year-over-year revenue growth. This quarter, five vendors did—Sharp Smart Office Business (+22.9 percent), Toshiba Tec Workplace Solutions (+15.4 percent), Canon Printing (+13.8 percent), Ninestar (12.5 percent), and Kyocera Document Solutions (+11.1 percent). Even HP Printing and Xerox Print and Other, the only two vendors to report revenue declines this quarter, reported smaller decreases than they did last quarter. This quarter, average revenue growth was 7.8 percent, up significantly from 1.6 percent for the quarter ended in March 2024 and 0.3 percent for the quarter ended in December 2023.

This quarter, six vendors reported profit growth in their printing businesses. Sharp Smart Office Business saw the strongest growth, followed by Konica Minolta Digital Workplace Business, Toshiba Tec Workplace Solution Business, Canon Printing, Epson Printing Solutions, and Kyocera Document Solutions. Ninestar did not break out operating profit or operating profit growth for the quarter, but given the enormous surge it reported in H1 operating profit, it definitely saw Q2 operating profit as well, and it is quite possible that Ninestar was actually the leader in terms of year-over-year operating profit growth for the quarter. It is notable that the number of vendors that are seeing profit growth appears to be shrinking. While this quarter six vendors saw growth, last quarter seven did. The quarter before that the total was nine.

Figure 5 shows how much revenue in U.S. dollars each OEM’s printing business generated in the quarter ended June 30, 2024. While it has become a trend for a couple of years now for Canon Printing to exceed HP Printing in terms of revenue for the quarter ended in December, in most quarters, HP Printing is number-one in terms of revenue, followed by Canon Printing and Ricoh Digital Services in spots two and three. That pattern held in the quarter ended in June. In addition, the four vendors with the smallest amount of revenue remained the same this quarter as last—they are Ninestar, Brother Printing and Solutions, Kyocera Documents Solutions, and Toshiba Tec Workplace Solutions (from most revenue to least). We saw some shakeup in the middle of the pack. Last quarter, Epson Printing Solutions was ranked fourth in terms of total revenue. This quarter, it was ranked sixth. Meanwhile, Fujifilm Document Solutions and Xerox Print and Other moved up from fifth and sixth place in terms of revenue last quarter to fourth and fifth this quarter. Sharp Smart Office and Konica Minolta Digital Workplace swapped positions. This quarter, Sharp Smart Office was seven and Konica Minolta Digital Workplace was eight in terms of total revenue, and last quarter it was the opposite.

Figure 6 shows the OEMs’ printer segment profits in U.S. dollars. As always both this figure and Figure 5 demonstrate that big percentage increases year-over-year don’t always translate into leading in terms of total revenue or profit in dollars. For example, Sharp Smart Office Business Konica Minolta Digital Workplace Business, and Toshiba Tec Workplace Solution Business all saw triple-digit profit growth, but are actually among the vendors with the smaller profits. Meanwhile, HP Printing saw its profits shrink by nearly 10 percent but still is the leader in terms of total profit. The top three vendors in terms of profit this quarter were the same as last quarter: HP Printing, Canon Printing, and Epson Printing Solutions. Brother Printing Solutions moved up to number four in terms of profits, up from eight last quarter. Xerox Print and Other moved to become the sixth biggest vendor in terms of operating profit, up from number 11 last quarter. Meanwhile, we saw Konica Minolta Digital Workplace and Ricoh Digital Services drop a number of spots in terms of total profit from last quarter to this quarter. It is especially notable that Ricoh Digital Service was ranked third in terms of revenue but dead last in terms of profit for the quarter ended in June.

Figure 7 compares printing segment profit margin for each of the vendors. HP Printing saw its operating profit margin drop quite a bit this quarter—in fact the group’s 17.3 percent margin was the lowest level since Q4 2021. Still, HP Printing easily enjoyed the biggest margin this quarter of all the vendors we compared. Epson Printing, Brother Printing and Solutions, and Canon Printing followed, in that order, and all enjoyed double-digit profit margins. As noted above, Ninestar did not break out operating profit for the quarter, but based its strong operating profit margin the first six months of the year, it is likely the firm would have ranked among the operating profit margin leaders for the quarter ended in June as well. While in the quarters ended in December and in March, Ricoh Digital Services and Xerox Print and Other were the vendors with the two worst operating profit margins, in the quarter ended in June Xerox Print and Other moved up from dead last to number eight. Conversely, Konica Minolta Digital Services moved downward and now has the second worst operating profit margin and Ricoh Digital Services slid down to last place with its anemic 0.2 percent margin.

Below we have summarized the performance of the various OEMs we track, keeping the focus on their home and office hardware and supplies businesses. For more information, click on the links below to access our detailed coverage of these companies’ financial results.

Brother: In Q1 2024, Brother’s revenue grew, operating profit declined modestly, and net profit grew modestly. Revenue grew 5.6 percent year-over-year in the Printing and Solutions segment, but the group’s operating profit dropped 6.5 percent. The problem for Brother’s Printing and Solutions group was the laser printer business. Revenue from laser hardware decreased 5 percent, while laser hardware unit shipments dropped by 13 percent. In contrast with the laser category, revenue from inkjet hardware rose 18 percent, and unit shipments of inkjet hardware rose 13 percent. Brother reported its revenue from the sale of laser consumables grew 11 percent. Inkjet consumables revenue declined 1 percent due to lower inkjet consumables sales in Europe and the United States.

Canon: Canon enjoyed an excellent Q2 2024, with net sales, operating profit, and net profit all growing by double-digits year-over-year. It was also a strong quarter for the Printing business. Revenue rose 13.8 percent, and segment operating profit increased a hefty 33.6 percent. Net sales were up in all three subsegment of Canon’s Printing business in Q2 2024. Net sales in the Office increased 11.7 percent. Net sales of office MFDs grew 8.8 percent, while other office sales increased 17.0 percent. The firm said that net sales of its MFD hardware grew  7 percent; however, unit shipments were down 1 percent, and non-hardware sales rose 11 percent. While Canon’s Prosumer segment has been struggling of late, this category had a good Q2. Prosumer net sales surged 17.0 percent. Laser printer revenue rose 20.2 percent with hardware sales up 17 percent on an 8 percent increase in units, and laser non-hardware net sales improved a whopping 22 percent. Inkjet printer net sales improved 7.5 percent. Net sales of inkjet hardware increased 8 percent even though shipments were down 4 percent, and inkjet non-hardware net sales rose 8 percent.

Epson: For Q1 2024, Epson reported growth in revenue and operating profit as well as a modest decline in net profit. After not performing very well in Q4 2023, the Printing Solutions segments had a strong quarter in Q1 2024 with revenue up 9.7 percent year-over-year and segment profit up 32.5 percent as the firm benefited from FOREX, cost containment efforts, and lower transportation costs. After declining for two straight quarters, revenue in the Office and Home Printing subsegment grew in Q1 2024, climbing 7.5 percent year-over-year. Office and Home business profit improved 5.1 percent. SOHO and home inkjet printer revenue increased 9.2 percent, and office-shared inkjet printer revenue increased 11.1 percent. Epson reported  that inkjet printer hardware unit sales increased 7 percent and printer hardware revenue was up 11 percent. Inkjet printer ink revenue was up 8 percent.

Fujifilm: Fujifilm had a positive start to FY 2024, with revenue, operating income, and net income all growing year-over-year in Q1 2024. The firm’s performance wasn’t quite as upbeat in Business Innovation segment, which saw revenue grow 3.9 percent but operating income tumble 12.9 percent. The Business Innovation segment now includes graphic communications in addition to the previous office solutions (printer, MFPs, and supplies) and business solutions categories. The office solutions subsegment saw only modest 0.7 percent revenue growth. Revenue increased year-over-year mainly due to higher exports to Europe and the U.S., by which Fujifilm typically means Xerox; however, FOREX was a big factor as well. The graphic communication subsegment, however, saw revenue increase 9.4 percent, and the business solutions subsegment reported a 3.5 percent increase in revenue.

HP: In Q3 2024, HP finally posted revenue growth for the first time in nine quarters, but operating and net profit declined. The company’s revenue growth was driven by improvements in the Personal Systems business. The segment we are most interested in, Printing, did not perform as well as HP had expected in the quarter. Printing revenue dropped 2.8 percent. Supplies revenue declined 2.3 percent, which was in line with HP’s expectation, and consumer hardware revenue increased 2.1 percent—the first time consumer hardware revenue has grown in two years. However, what seems to have caught HP by surprise is that the office market was weaker than expected. Commercial hardware revenue was down 5.0 percent. Total printer units decreased 2 percent with units down 4 percent in commercial hardware and flat consumer hardware units. HP blamed slumping demand in China and competitive pricing pressure from Japanese rivals benefiting from the weak yen for the commercial hardware business falling short of expectations. The worst of the news coming out of the Printing segment in Q3 was related to profits. The segment’s operating profit fell by 9.9 percent. One factor appears to be headwinds from pricing—it seems that because of tough competition from Japanese rivals HP had to cut prices and sacrifice some margin on hardware sales.

Konica Minolta: In Q1 2024, Konica Minolta reported revenue growth, but the company had operating and net losses, albeit smaller ones than in the year-ago period. The Digital Workplace Business had revenue growth of 5.1 percent, which is lower than for the company as a whole, but the segment managed to post a profit rather than a loss. Although it was growing from a low level, operating profit in the Digital Workplace segment surged 125.9 percent. Revenue in the office printing subsegment in Q1 2024 increased 5.2 percent. The firm said that in Q1 it sold about 90 percent of the color A3 MFPs it had the year prior, while its sales volume of A3 monochrome devices was 102 percent. Unit sales of all office A3 MFPs were 94 percent of year-ago levels. According to the firm, however, non-hardware revenue, including consumables and services, increased.

Kyocera: In Q1 of its current fiscal year, Kyocera reported revenue growth, but both operating and net profit shrank. As was the case throughout all of last year, the firm’s Document Solutions group is performing better than the company as a whole. In Q1, Document Solutions revenue improved 11.1 percent and business profit increased a robust 25.7 percent. Kyocera said the group benefited from improved sales and the impact of a weaker yen.

Ninestar: While Ninestar focused much of its latest financial report on its H1 2024 results, our calculations show company revenue grew 12.5 percent in Q2 2024 and net profit jumped 399.0 percent. Operating profit presumably rose sharply as well in Q2 2023 as for the first-half operating profit rose 350.6 percent. All segment results that Ninestar showed were for the first half only. Lexmark’s revenue increased 6.3 percent in H1 2024, the firm’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 44.3 percent, and Lexmark’s net profit improved $73.0 million from the loss reported in H1 2023. Pantum, however, saw its revenue drop 4.1 percent. Pantum’s non-net profit improved 43.0 percent.

Ricoh: In Q1 2024, Ricoh grew its top line, but operating profit tumbled and net profit shrank. The Digital Services segment, which accounts for most of Ricoh’s revenue and profits, also had a mixed quarter. Revenue rose 5.3 percent; however, operating profit in the Digital Services segment plunged 90.6 percent—which was much worse than for the company as a whole. The problem was the Office Printing business, which saw sales grow only 0.2 percent. Office hardware net sales declined 5 percent year-over-year, but non-hardware net sales in the Office Printing category grew 4 percent due to the favorable impact of FOREX. Ricoh said Office Printing operating profit fell sharply, and that, combined with project costs related to restructuring, pushed down Digital Services operating profit.

Sharp: Sharp has vowed to return to profitability in FY 2024, but it did not do so in Q1. Instead, the company reported a modest net sales decline and continued operating and net losses. Similar to what we saw throughout FY 2023, however, the Smart Office segment far outperformed the company as a whole and was the company’s strongest-performing business. Smart Office revenue and operating profit grew 22.9 percent and 168.1 percent, respectively. Sharp noted that it saw sales increases for MFPs, office solutions, and information displays, mainly in Europe and the United States.

Toshiba Tec: Toshiba Tec had a stellar start to FY 2024. In Q1, net sales rose by double digits year-over-year, operating profit grew by triple digits, and net profit was over 90 times the super-slim profit reported one year ago. While that was due in part to a recovery in the Retail Solutions, it also stemmed from the continued strong performance of the Workplace Solutions segment. Workplace Solutions reported that in Q1 2024 its net sales rose 15.5 percent and operating profit jumped up 106.7 percent. Toshiba Tec reported that the segment’s net sales of MFPs increased due higher selling prices and higher sales in all regions as the firm continued to recover from product shortages in prior periods. Operating profit grew due to higher sales, higher prices, and structural reforms.

Xerox: Q2 2024 was another rough quarter for Xerox, which posted declines in revenue, operating income, and net income. In Xerox’s Print and Other segment, revenue contracted 9.9 percent and operating profit tumbled 24.3 percent. Xerox’s total equipment revenue dropped 15.2 percent in Q2. Revenue in the entry-level segment fell 11.1 percent. Total entry-level installs in the quarter declined 10 percent. Midrange equipment sales declined 13.0 percent as installs dropped 17 percent. The high-end equipment business saw revenue shrink 26.8 percent as installs fell 23 percent. In Q2 2024, post-sale revenue in Q1 2023 decreased 8.4 percent.

Forecast Changes

Although most OEMs’ FY 2024 forecasts are quite new, we saw many vendors adjust their guidance for the year ahead in their latest financial reports. Six vendors, including Canon, Epson, Fujifilm, HP, Toshiba Tec, and Xerox, revised their full-year outlook. Four of these firms (Canon, Epson, Fujifilm, and Toshiba Tec) raised their full-year targets and two (HP and Xerox) lowered them. It is not a surprise that only Japanese manufacturers raised their guidance given how these firms continue to benefit from yen depreciation.

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