There was a time when having a printer in your house was considered a luxury. Having a printer at home meant that you didn’t have to sneak personal print jobs at work, or dash to the nearest library or internet café every time you needed to print something.
It didn’t take long for printers to go from being a luxury to necessity. This is about the same time that computers became a part of our everyday life, too. Kids needed them to print their school assignments, mom and dad needed them to print work documents, interesting article, recipes; endless options, really.
Today, printers have moved from necessary to redundancy. Files are stored and accessed via the cloud, school assignments are submitted online, and colleagues can email important documents to each other. This stagnation is a huge reason why the Global Printers Market is only expected to post a CAGR of 0.9 percent from 2013-2018 in terms of revenue.
The biggest hit to the Printers Market came with the advent of smartphones and tablets. End-users can now access documents and files wherever they are. People can even use their phones as wallets, concert and movie tickets, airline boarding passes, and more.
In short, digital has become the new hard copy.
Also taking a huge hit is the Printing Inks Market, which isn’t doing much better than the Printers Market, but is expected to post a CAGR of 4.42 percent from 2013-2018.
TechNavio analysts have pinpointed the biggest challenges affecting the printer and printer inks markets during the forecast period:
Competing with Digital Media
The increasing popularity of electronic media is posing a threat to the Printing industry. Newspapers and books are read on electronic book readers and computers, while information is exchanged via internet and emails. Online marketing techniques like social media marketing, email marketing, and online marketing have become so popular that marketing through magazines and publications has reduced drastically.
Revenues generated through advertisements in publications have also reduced as present day ads are more and more directed toward TV and radio commercials and online advertisements. The rapid growth of digital media is posing a threat to the circulation volumes and advertising revenues of printed media.
Increasing Popularity of E-Books
Besides providing new books, the Global E-books market provides e-book editions of new publications, magazines, newspapers, old books and classics across multiple disciplines to preserve content and increase readership. In addition, several publishers are releasing only e-book editions, indicating a declining preference for conventional books.
Increasing Amount of Wireless Printing
Consumers are increasingly using wireless connectivity as it enables them to operate multiple devices as a single unit. Wireless printing is also becoming popular as it allows people to connect to a printer through smartphones. End-users can use their smartphones or tablets to instantly print office documents, bills, or any other important documents. However, this could pose a serious threat as end-users will require only a single printer instead of multiple printers, thus decreasing the need for a large number of printers. This is likely to reduce the overall demand for printers, consequently affecting the Global Printer market.
To find out more about what’s happening in the Printing Industry, view our 2013-2018 Global Printers Market and Global Printing Inks Market reports.
Photo: “Old and New, Neither Wanted” by Matt Jiggins via Flickr (cc)
