The global market for inkjet printing will grow at an annual rate of 9.4% and will be worth USD 109 billion in 2023, according to “The Future of Inkjet Printing to 2023”, a brand new market report from Smithers Pira. This contrasts positively with the general outlook for the print industry where growth is occurring at a more moderate 0.8% annually.
 

In 2018 the total value of inkjet printing in graphics and packaging applications will reach USD 69.6 billion. This volume will consume some 103,700 tonnes of ink, with the end-users spending USD 8.7 billion, while the market for new inkjet equipment will be USD 3.6 billion.
 

While advertising will continue to be the largest end-use application across 2018-2023, the most rapid growth will come from wider use of inkjet in:
 

• ? Packaging
• ? Books
• ? Commercial printing.
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Beyond these core applications developers are exploring ways of leveraging the flexibility of inkjet to open new market applications, such as:
 

• ? 3D printing
• ? Automotive and transport printing
• ? Biomedical printing
• ? Ceramics printing
• ? Décor and laminate printing
• ? Direct-to-shape printing
• ? Glass printing
• ? Printed electronics
• ? Textile printing
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Many of these opportunities will require integrating the inkjet process with robotics aligning with the wider Industry 4.0 trend.
 

Dr Sean Smyth, print consultant at Smithers Pira and author of the report, comments: “The economics and reliability of inkjet are consistently improving as a result of heavy investment in printing heads, machinery, inks and drying systems, associated software and substrates. There is strong growth across most of these disparate activities because the non-impact process is very flexible and capable of printing at high-quality and speed, making it suitable to print many products, while the cost position is becoming more economic against most analogue printing alternatives.”