Wide Format Digital Color Printing Market to Reach More than $21 Billion by 2004
Hanover, Mass. — Businesses and consumers are expected to spend more than $21 billion on wide format output by 2004, according I.T. Strategies. In its
Wide Format Graphics Forecast 2000, I.T. Strategies reveals that consumption of wide graphics output grew 15 percent from 1998
to 1999. This momentum continues with 18 percent growth in the year 2000.
Not surprising, ink jet continues its domination with 95 percent of the worldwide installed base of hardware units, consuming more than 70 percent of all wide format media. In 1999, Hewlett-Packard, Encad and Epson accounted for 75 percent of all wide format ink jet sales units.
"Electrostatic printers are another story, however," said Michael Flippin, consultant at I.T. Strategies. The installed base of electrostatic printers (3 percentof all units) continues to consume 17 percent of all media. There is a trend to use these units for transfer printing to vinyl or sublimation on
fabric. But, the last electrostatic manufacturer, Xerox Colorgrafx, has stopped investing in e-stat, ending all investment in e-stat hardware.
In other findings, I.T. Strategies' research revealed that superwide printer manufacturers are aggressively promoting new capabilities, partnerships and outdoor application awareness. This is about a $200-$250M business for Nur (which has acquired Salsa Digital), Vutek, and Scitex Wide Format.
The sales of wide format digital photo writers, which use red, green, and blue lasers to write on photographic paper, continue to grow. However, certain markets have been quickly saturating the current demand with an over-capacity of units (i.e. New York City).
Technology and Distribution Point to Opportunity
The future market opportunity in wide format printing growth is dependent on two key components. First are technology improvements in speed and capability. There is demand for faster wide format printers that print 50 to 100 poster per day — not today's norm of 5 to15 per day. This will foster
the second component which is national distribution. The availability of wide format output by more national chains will open doors to national retailers, such as the GAP and Nordstroms. But, it will be critical that these national print-for-pay shops have the capability of producing consistent output from
complex digital files.
Although today wide format output is primarily created by businesses for marketing and advertising, with a large percentage of the output used in trade show and point-of-purchase (POP) applications, I.T. Strategies sees the business-to-consumer market as an untapped market opportunity. Demand
has not disappeared. As the $21 billion depicts, users are willing to pay for wide format output.
New Product Announcements
There were several key product announcements made this past year which feature higher performance in spped, durability, and the ability to print on a wide range of substrates. They include:
- RasterGraphics Bellise ;(24 Epson heads printing at 200+ sq ft/hr at 720dpi)
- VUTEk 2360 (80", 360 dpi, Pantone capable superwide printer
- Ilford Archiva Inks offering 100+ year dye stability
- 3M ink jet and electrostatic 3- and 5-year outdoor warranties
- 6-color printers expected from HP, Canon, SII all with 3072 nozzles per printer
Market Growth
The growth in wide format digital printing is not uniform across suppliers, as revenues from hardware, media an ink are affected by market trends and user preferences. As Hewlett-Packard and Epson focus on selling large volumes of units, other hardware suppliers continue the trend toward
application-specific solutions. Some examples include:
- Encad point-of-purchase printer
- Roland HiFi Jet for digital fine art
- Mimaki textile printer
- Raseter Graphics Arizona for durable (outdoor) printing on uncoated vinyl.
For more information, contact Martha Popoloski at 781-826-0200 or email popoloski@it-strategies.com.
This article originally appeared in the August 2000 issue of Recharger.