According to a report from research firm Smithers Pira entitled The Future of Global Print Equipment Markets to 2021, overall sales of printing equipment over the past five years remained stable. However, there were significant changes in the mix of products sold reflecting developments in the type of work being printed.
‘From 2011 to 2016 more jobs were being printed as customers demanded high-quality print in smaller quantities,’ said Ashley Gange, author of the report. ‘Print service providers used sophisticated workflow and job optimisation software to print multiple jobs efficiently on a single sheet and defray setup costs, then to finish and deliver multiple jobs efficiently.’
The firm found that global equipment sales of $16.3bn in 2016 were approximately the same as 2011 but there were major declines in sales of web offset presses. Heatset web offset declined at an annual rate of 20.2% from $708.4 m in 2011 to $228.7 m in 2016. It added that the most dramatic decline was over and forecast a more gradual contraction by 1.2% per year between 2016-21.
In contrast, the rapid growth of digital equipment in the last five years was expected to slow. From 2011-16 inkjet sales grew 10% per year, which it predicted to slow to 3.7% between 2016-21. Total inkjet sales will rise from $3.74bn in 2016 to $4.48bn in 2021 with the strongest growth in high end presses.
The full report costs £4,200.
Smithers Pira is currently offering 10% discount across all market reports until 31st January 2017.
