In the ENX Magazine feature story for November, “Beyond Traditional Print: Three Product Lines to Consider,” we spoke with vendors and dealers about their experiences selling label printers, digital signage, and 3D printers. They reported strong growth and optimism within their markets. But what do market watchers say about the future opportunities in these product categories? We’ve reviewed recent research and pulled out some findings relevant to the dealer community.
- The total global market for label printers is expected to grow by 4.9 percent CAGR each year to 2019 according to Smithers Pira, a market research firm focused on the packaging, paper and print industry supply chains.
Smithers Pira also says that the thermal printing market will be worth $39 billion in 2021. A large portion of that will be printing product and safety labels, although it did not break out the percentage. - The use of digital printing in packaging is expected to grow rapidly from more than $8 billion in 2015 to more than $14 billion in 2018, according to Smithers Pira. The vast majority of that total, more than $12 billion, will be label printing.
The Freedonia Group projects U.S. growth for label printers at 3.8 percent each year through 2019, when it will reach $19.7 billion. The fastest growing segments are secondary labels (for example, those used for inventory and tracking) and labels used for shipping, core categories for office equipment dealers selling label printers.- The global 3D printer market is expected to be $30.19 billion by 2022 with a CAGR of 28.5 percent between 2016 and 2022, according to market research firm MarketsandMarkets. Most of that growth will come from industrial 3D printers.
- A recent report from SmarTech Publishing suggests a growing opportunity in third-party 3D printing software sales. This segment is growing faster than software provided by the hardware OEMs. The research firm projects the entire 3D printing software market to reach $740 million in 2021.
- The Wohlers Report for 2016 shows that 278,000 sub-$5,000 desktop 3D printers were sold in 2015, a sharp increase from the nearly 160,000 sold in 2014.
- The global digital signage market is expected to double from nearly $15 billion in 2015 to nearly $30 billion in 2024, according to Grand View Research.
- Retail accounts for nearly 40 percent of that growth in digital signage. Banking, transportation, healthcare, and education are also significant consumers of the technology.
- Although LCD displays accounted for about 54 percent of the units sold in 2015, according to Grand View Research, LED displays are expected to grow at a 6 percent CAGR over the next few years.
