(Weymouth, MA) June 3, 2003... CAP Ventures research indicates that 2002 unit placements for the copier and copier-based multifunctional peripheral (MFP) markets in the U.S. declined 11.2% in comparison to 2001 placements. Overall, the number of placements dropped from 1,629,700 in 2001 to 1,446,700 in 2002.

This represents the first market decline since CAP Ventures began providing forecasts on this market in 1995. The results of this research are now available in a report entitled Preliminary Year 2002 U.S. Copier Market Placements. The report provides detailed data by segment and placements by vendor segment.

Excluding the Personal Copier segment (copiers that produce 10 or fewer pages per minute), the year-over-year drop was only 1.4%, declining from 1,290,300 units in 2001 to 1,271,700 units in 2002. Color copier placements fell from 79,600 in 2001 to 42,900 in 2002, representing a 46% decline. If personal color copiers are removed from the equation, placements fell from 44,600 in 2001 to 42,900 in 2002, representing a decline of 3.8%.

In addition to examining the market by traditional speed segmentations, CAP Ventures also offers a view of the market based on user environments. The three environments are:

• Personal: The Personal environment includes equipment in the speed range of PC (up to 10 ppm) and Segment 1 (11 - 19 ppm), generally targeting the consumer and small office/home office (SOHO) markets.   
• Workgroup: The Workgroup environment represents equipment in Segments 2, 3, and 4, (20 - 69 ppm), predominately targeting mid-sized and large corporations. For color copiers, the Workgroup category includes devices that produce 3 - 23 ppm, which are sometimes referred to as convenience color copiers.   
• Production: The Production environment refers to products within Segments 5 & 6 (70+ ppm), which are generally targeted toward print environments and often require a dedicated operator to produce the work of others as an internal or external resource. For color copiers, the Production category includes devices that produce at least 24 ppm.

In the personal environment, the Personal Copier segment experienced the greatest decline of more than 40%, due largely to HP's and Xerox's decisions to exit the market. The workgroup environment experienced a slight drop in placements of 2.3%, while the production environment experienced a growth of 3.6%. 

CAP Ventures' complete market forecast provides data through 2007 will be available later this quarter. It will include placements, installed base, and hardware revenue.

To learn more about CAP Ventures' reports or to make a purchase, please contact Alison Hipp at , ext. 126 or via e-mail at  .