According to a new report from UK-based Pira International, the global inkjet market is growing strongly as more print suppliers and label converters move into the market.
The study sets the total inkjet print market in 2009 at $26.8 billion, growth of 58.2% over 2005. Pira expects an average 10.3% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2010 to 2015 making the market worth $46.5 billion. The print volume would be the equivalent of 352.6 billion letter-size pages, up by 68.1% from 2010.
The report, entitled The Future of Inkjet Printing to 2015, is based on primary research and expert analysis, and it takes a look at global markets and developing technologies for industrial and commercial inkjet printing, equipment and ink.
According to Pira, the inkjet process is making inroads into the sizeable markets for graphics, labels, packaging and signage where it is expected to be the major commercial printing process in the next 15–25 years.
“The process is so flexible that there are many discrete sectors,” notes Adam Page, head of editorial at Pira. “In each one: narrow web, wide web, wide and grand-format, high speed flatbed, sheetfed and miscellaneous integrations, we are seeing faster, higher quality and critically more reliable machines. These provide significant benefits to commercial and industrial users who are taking on the technology.”
In terms of dollar value, signage (point of sale, posters, exhibit graphics, banners, vehicle and building wraps) dominates the market, as signage and display inkjet markets have developed rapidly as screen printers saw their marketplace move toward lower runs and faster turnaround. This sector is predicted to be worth around $16.3 billion in 2010, and Pira anticipates it will rise to $22 billion in by 2015 when it will account for 47.2% of the total inkjet market value.
Signage print volume is expected to achieve a CAGR of 3.8% from 2010–15, with the value showing an average growth of 6.1% over the same period.
Use of inkjet printing will continue to see growth across other end-use sectors (commercial, newspapers, direct mail, transactional and transpromotional, security, packaging and labels).
“Over the next five years we will see a general movement of improving productivity and quality in all sectors, making inkjet increasingly competitive against screen, flexo, gravure and offset printing,” notes Page. “It will also take share from electrophotography in some markets, such as mono overprinting by making full colour, totally variable output economic at good quality levels.”
Innovation is strong in the industry. There is a growing use of inkjet printed textiles and fabrics and the technology is used as industrial decoration making flooring, laminate surfaces and decorating glass and ceramics.
A relatively new sector is printed electronics, from circuits and RFID to displays and lighting. According to Pira, highly-innovative research areas to watch include inkjet technology as a method of depositing bio-medical material to produce new drug delivery and biological sensors.
Researchers are also examining inkjet as a method of seeding artificial tissue engineering.
