Industrial Printer shows continued market strength in Q1 2021, led by large format

New data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Industrial Printer Tracker unveiled that market recovery from the COVID-19 crisis that began in Q3 2020 continued through Q1 2021.

"While shipments in some segments took a step backward after a very strong fourth quarter, the overall shipment numbers remained strong in Q1," said Tim Greene, research director, Hardcopy Solutions at IDC. "Led by large format digital printers, total shipments grew by almost 2.5% compared to the fourth quarter of 2020."

The report indicated that the large format printer market has returned to pre-pandemic levels worldwide.

Other segments that grew in Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020 are direct-togarment, which increased 3.5%, and direct-to-shape, which saw a nearly 5% growth.

On the other hand, segments that were down in the same period include label and packaging printer which declined 7%. Industrial textile printer shipments also declined 2%. Regionally, Japan has shown the most ‘aggressive’ recovery, growing more than 17% compared to Q4 2020. Meanwhile, shipments in China have continued to expand since Q1 2020.

The report suggests that some of the shipment growth is being driven by hardware price promotions, which explains why shipments are growing at a modest 2.4% but shipment value declined by 4%. Many vendors postponed introducing new printer models and technologies during the pandemic. Some of those new models have recently started to reach the market with more expected through the second half of 2021. Some of these introductions represent important technology evolutions that should drive investments in industrial printing equipment.

Thai total industrial printer market grew 20.3% compared to last year

Thailand’s total industrial printer market showed a growth 20.3% in Q2 2021 compared with Q2 2020 during the 3rd wave of Covid-19, according to IDC.

However, it declined -21.9% compared to Q1 2021. This could be attributed to the new Covid-19 restriction imposed by the government which encouraged work-from-home schemes, as the number of daily new infections reached over 10,000.

Some businesses still need to operate and require industrial printers such as healthcare-related labels, food and beverage labels, packaging, maps, stickers and customization souvenirs. Businesses in Thailand have learnt how to deal with the 1st wave of Covid-19 since March last year.

“Some businesses are currently continuously running business during the 3rd wave of Covid-19. There are some opportunities that can be explored during this crisis time,” said Puwanart Pientanyakij, Market Analyst for IPDS at IDC Thailand.

According to IDC, desktop label products was one of industrial printer tracker products to fuel overall total industrial printer to grow in Q2 2021 from different kinds of businesses, especially in the manufacture and healthcare sectors. During the 3rd wave of Covid-19, hospital businesses require desktop label products to customize items such as blood bags, meal tags and wristbands for patient identification.