Hewlett Packard dominates the printer market in both the UK and Europe. The company leads the field for inkjets and colour and mono lasers, according to a survey by researcher IDC.

The remainder of the market share is evenly distributed, confirming the commonly held view about the true state of the industry.

For example, in IDC's research Lexmark did better than Canon in the UK inkjet market, but not in Europe. Samsung performed strongly in the UK mono laser market, but only managed ninth in Europe.

A look at the practical applications of printers reveals clearly defined trends between different sized companies.

A fifth of the smaller organisations in Europe use colour laser printers, including those that use solid ink and heat transfer technology, primarily for graphics and art applications.

This is in line with the historical market for colour laser printing, and reflects the fact that many users are small and serve niche markets.

However, 72 per cent now use the same printer type for everyday business printing, highlighting the lower running costs compared with their counterparts of three to five years ago.

In the UK, only 13 per cent of colour laser printers are used for graphics applications but, at 75 per cent, the business use is much higher.

Twelve per cent of small companies use their printers for general business and graphics, compared with just seven per cent in western Europe.

As the companies surveyed grow, so the use of colour laser printers evens out. In Europe, 29 per cent of sub 1,000-seat companies use colour printers for graphics, 57 per cent for day-to-day business printing and 14 per cent use them in equal measure.

The UK figures are also more closely aligned, at 21, 56 and 23 per cent respectively.

In larger organisations (1,000+ seats) there is near parity. The European figures reveals 47 per cent of colour laser printers used for graphics, and 46 per cent for business, with seven per cent on equal use.

The UK is more clear cut, at 45 per cent (graphics)and 55 per cent (business), with none of the companies surveyed using both applications equally.

These figures reflect the fact that, while colour printing is still more expensive than mono on a straight cost-per-page basis, the cost is manageable even for small businesses where the cost of consumables is likely to be harder to absorb and where buying volumes are likely to be too low to take advantage of economies of scale.

Mono printing is taken as a given for everyday business use, but inkjet printers generally do not have a recognised place in the workplace, although many are appearing by stealth.

Across all sizes of business in Europe, more than 70 per cent use printers for everyday business data, most commonly in the form of letters and other one-off business forms.

A similar number of small UK companies use their printers for the same purpose. But only 62 per cent of medium-sized firms use them for general business and 21 per cent for graphics work.

In large enterprises, only six per cent use them for graphics use, the rest for business applications.