Printer Market

Market Overview

The global printer market size was valued at USD 47.29 billion in 2021, presumed to reach USD 68.81 billion, expanding at a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period.

A printer is an external hardware output technology that generates a hard copy of electronic data stored on a computer or other electronic device. A printer is a device that produces a tangible copy of electronic data saved on a computer or other device. The electronic data may consist of documents, text, photos, or a combination of the three. One of the most popular computer peripherals, printers are frequently used to print text and images. A quality printer is essential office equipment for some firms, while it is less crucial for others. It depends entirely on how an organization utilizes the office equipment it has. The market and environment for printing are undergoing numerous changes. The demand for printers is influenced by the introduction of new technology, the changing needs of customers, and the emergence of new printing markets.

Mobile printing, the rising demand for color printing, packaging printing needs, the development of the market for entry-level products (A4 printers), and the increasing demand for cloud computing and software serve as growth drivers for the printing market. The printing sector is enjoying a substantial upswing in rising economies such as China, India, and the other Asia-Pacific region. The move from analog to digital and black-and-white to color models is one of the emerging tendencies in these sectors. The printer market growth is anticipated to be driven by the increased demand for printed packaging. The increase in demand for packaging printing is due to the expansion of the e-commerce business. During the pandemic lockdown, the need for online grocery shopping and food ordering increased, driving the rapid development of e-commerce.

Market Dynamics

Drivers Factors

Technical Developments and Product Enhancements Among End-users

As a result of innovations and digital integration, product enhancements are positioned as a significant market driver, as market participants capitalize on the ability to replace the toner in less than 20 seconds, load paper less frequently, print hands-free with voice activation, and reduce common printing interruptions. Higher sales of printers with refillable ink tanks, as opposed to those that require cartridges, exemplify the ink innovation trend. Ink subscriptions are another area where manufacturers foresee future growth, with consumers preferring to pay for ink cartridges regularly or to have them supplied automatically when the printer's ink is running low. HP, for instance, introduced a toner tank that could refill a printer in 15 seconds. And the HP Neverstop Laser is a laser printer that reduces service disruptions and saves time.

In addition to reducing the cost per page of printing, the adoption of newer printer models has been driven by a reduction in the cost per page of printing. Options for affordable and environmentally friendly ink and toner have proliferated in response to the frequently challenging and dirty multi-step process required to load new ink or toner. This has resulted in improved print quality, more minor ink spills, and lower print costs per page. Epson America, Inc. has announced the addition of the WorkForce ST-C8090 Supertank color multifunction printer to its Business Inkjet Supertank line in response to the growing demand for multifunction printers (MFP). Adding a two-year ink guarantee and a basic two-year limited warranty were value-added services. Therefore, these characteristics are associated with the adoption of printers across corporate applications and the growth of the printer market.

Restraints Factors

Environmental Awareness and the Increased Digitalization Among Consumers

Inkjet printer cartridges contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and heavy metals; disposal in soil, water, or landfills will cause pollution. Numerous conventional printing processes, especially those involving solvent-heavy inks and plastic-based components, are not sustainable and generate significant emissions. However, according to the UK's Carbon Trust research, the carbon emissions of ink used in packaging or newsprint purposes is less than 1% of the product's total carbon footprint. Climate change has put pressure on lowering carbon emissions, and businesses have increased their efforts to conserve energy through various activities. In a regular office, printers and multifunction printers account for approximately 10% of overall energy use. Modern wide format printing applications are not considered recyclable. This poses a massive threat to the printer market.

Global Printer Market Opportunities

The Advent of AI, ML, and Data Analytics

Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and automation have substantially personalized communications. The convergence of such technologies in printing makes it feasible to provide a high level of print personalization and utility, even for high-volume applications, in the same way that email gradually supplanted fax machines. It is anticipated that accelerated automation will correlate with the increased demand for printers that are simple to run and require minimal and less-skilled operators. Given their prevalence and importance to company operations, printers have garnered the attention of security experts to raise awareness about their vulnerabilities. Printers typically have extensive feature sets, sophisticated functionality, and networking capabilities that offer hackers a vast attack surface. The printer market has been changing toward more environmentally friendly practices for some time now, as environmental sustainability has become a top priority across many industries. The printing industry is moving past renewable resources and boosting print accuracy to cut emissions and waste. Moreover, as more organizations attempt to satisfy their sustainability objectives and lower carbon impact, the demand for UV-cured inks increases. These developments create growth potential for the printer market.

Regional Analysis

The region-wise segmentation of the global printer market includes North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa.

The Asia Pacific and North America will dominate the regional market

The Asia Pacific will command the market with the largest share while growing at a CAGR of 5.9%. Asia-Pacific is a significant printer market, as many of the industry's leading companies are headquartered there. Japan is home to many of these market participants and its domestic market, including Canon Inc., Seiko Epson Corporation, Ricoh Co., Ltd., Fujifilm Holdings Corporation, and Brother Industries Ltd. The associated companies also contributed significantly to the printer market revenue growth.

However, in Asia-Pacific, printing-related hardware sales dropped due to customer business limitations, resulting in a decline in consumables sales. Some companies saw an increase in inkjet printer sales as a result of tapping the desire for working and studying from home in countries such as China and Japan, as well as the recovery in demand in some emerging countries in response to changes in education and remote work conditions. However, end customers in the region have begun adopting new printing technologies. Additionally, market providers are concentrating on expanding their presence in developing nations such as India. For example, Canon India reported in September 2020 that Replika Press Pvt. Ltd. had installed the VarioPrint i300, a B3 sheetfed inkjet color digital printer. Consequently, increasing the regional printer market.

North America will expand at a CAGR of 3.5% and hold USD 17 billion. Widespread applications in numerous industries, such as government, businesses, homes, offices, educational institutions, etc., have driven the region's printer market's revenue growth. The region is essential to the revenue generation of global printing industry corporations, including HP Inc., Canon, Xerox Corporation, and Seiko Epson Corporation. The region is technologically developed and advanced, which facilitates adopting new technology.

Market participants are increasing their emphasis on developing and promoting intelligent workplace services to accelerate the digital transformation of consumers. These competent workspace services are intended to assist businesses in optimizing their print infrastructure, automating associated business processes, and securing their print environment. These services aim at clientele from multinational corporations to government agencies and SMEs. Integrating these new technologies enables manufacturers to develop virtual print management services, which improve enterprise cost controls and security by routing data to company-provided or personal printers based on data classification. These reasons are bolstering the North American printer market.

Segmental Analysis

The global printer market is classified based on printer type, technology type, printer interface, output type, end-user application, and region.

Based on printer type, the categories include Standalone and Multi-Functional.

The standalone section is projected to advance at a CAGR of 5.1% and hold the largest share. Multifunction printers are growing popular, although many enterprises still prefer standalone printers. Single-use devices provide advantages that multipurpose ones don't. The main selling feature of standalone printers is also the reason for their replacement by MFPs. Standalone printers operate independently. This disconnects it from joint operations and network control yet allows it to complete its job without interruptions.

The multi-functional section will hold the second-largest share. MFPs (multi-functional printers) combine printers, scanners, photocopiers, and fax machines with network connectivity. SOHOs and big offices install them to centralize document management, distribution, and production. MFPs assist organizations manage printing and imaging costs and provide new features. MFPs can reduce the total cost of ownership for printing and imaging assets, increase resource consolidation and management, and boost business process efficiency.

Based on the technology type, the categories include Dot Matrix Printer, Inkjet Printer, LED Printer, Thermal Printer, and Laser Printer.

The inkjet printer section is projected to advance at a CAGR of 5.6% and hold the largest share. Inkjet printing helps to develop digital printing. The method sprays ink droplets onto paper. This allows photo-quality photos. Inkjet printing offers total variability and inexpensive set-up costs, allowing for economical single-copy printing. Inkjets can generate unique, short-run products effectively. Online ordering and web-to-print technology are driving growth in commercial printing. Inkjets' ability to produce short batches and one-off products has strengthened their significance in this ecosystem.

The thermal printer section will hold the second-largest share. Thermal printing, which uses heat to create an image on paper, is becoming more popular due to its many benefits. The printing heads in these printers produce images in milliseconds, leading to faster lines per second (LPs) and quickly drying prints. Thus, faster printing speeds allow for speedier shipping labels and customer receipts. This makes them an ideal printing technology for many retail companies that use thermal printers for a point-of-sale experience.

Based on the printer interface, the categories include Wired and Wireless.

The wired section is projected to advance at a CAGR of 3.9% and hold the largest share. A wired printer is directly attached to a single computer via USB cable and serves only that computer. Most printers automatically install drivers when connected via USB. Local printers can help staff with enormous printing demands. Most wired printers link directly to the computer, allowing for high-speed data transfer. Wired printers are more secure because they have one entry point but reduce productivity. If the printer breaks, rerouting a print job is difficult.

The wireless section will hold the second-largest share. A wireless printer uses a wireless network to print from PCs, cellphones, and tablets without connecting them via cable or transferring files. Any network printer without an ethernet cord is considered wireless. Wireless printers use WiFI, Bluetooth, PAN, NFC, and Cloud.

Based on output type, categories include Color and Monochrome.

The monochrome section is projected to advance at a CAGR of 4.4% and hold the largest share. Monochrome printers use just black ink and are employed in professional settings due to their quick printing rates, low cost per printer usage, and adequate text clarity. Monochrome printing is still used for publications, user manuals, transactional printing, direct mail, reports, and forms. Every day, publishers print books and catalogs. Industry vendors use cut-sheet black-and-white or roll-to-sheet feeding equipment for book blocks or inner pages and color for covers. The increase of small to medium businesses creates a demand for low-cost printers, making monochrome printers ideal.

The color section will hold the second-largest share. Residential and business applications employ color printers. Color printers use cyan, magenta, and other inks. These printers are also used to showcase corporate products and services. Colors embellish brochures, catalogs, and flyers. Colors increase product or brand visibility. Targeted marketing can also be done with colors that increase engagement.

Based on the end-user application, the categories include Residential, Commercial, Educational Institutions, Enterprises, Government, and Other End-user Applications.

The enterprise section is projected to advance at a CAGR of 6.2% and hold the largest share. Enterprises are one of the largest printer adapters. Energy usage has been a significant cost driver for businesses. On average, the United States' small and medium-sized office buildings consume 15 kilowatt-hours of energy and 38 cubic feet of natural gas per square foot annually. These considerations boost the adoption of new enterprise printers, which reduces energy usage.

The residential section will hold the second-largest share. One of the most significant end-user applications for printers is residential. Multiple reasons lead to the segment's growth, including increased household technology penetration, pandemic-driven disruptions, and vendor investments. With the expansion in home technology, the demand for modern printing solutions compatible with other home devices has also increased.

Recent Developments

In 2022, Canon Inc. launched the CXDI-Pro and CXDI-Elite series under its CXDI brand of DR series.