PC Pitstop Printer Survey Results

April 13, 2007 by lyle in Research, Surveys

The results of our January 2007 Printer Survey are in. Our initial analysis of the survey data is found below.

Respondents to our survey say personal projects dominate their printer usage.

Average selling prices for inkjet printers continue to fall and our survey results underscore their popularity.

Over 60% of those responding to our survey use their printers on a daily basis. These are the folks that stoke the highly profitable printer ink market.

More than 62% of those surveyed are spending most their time printing photos & text.

84% of survey respondents are printing the same or more, year over year. Interestingly, 16% say they are printing less. Perhaps the highly competitive online printing services are becoming a more attractive alternative.

Our survey results show printer manufactures maintaining a stranglehold on the ink market. Worth noting, a recent Business Week article suggests HP is playing 'hard ball' in offering retailers incentives to discontinue the sales of non-HP ink alternatives. Moreover, only 12% of those surveyed are using the more economical and environmentally friendly refill options.

Retail appears to be winning the battle for the multi billion dollar printer ink market.

More than half of those responding to our survey are ready to sacrifice brand loyalty for a better printer value. It will be interesting to see if Kodak's new printer lineup offering $9.99 black/$14.99 color ink catridges is perceived as the better value that consumers are looking for.