Digital Graphic Printing Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The digital graphic printing market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.2% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). Presently the digital graphic printing market consolidation is likely to continue as the global print industry ecosystem continues to face digital disruption. The significant erosion of traditional revenue streams, which has driven by hardware commercialization and the transition to digitization, are forcing industry vendors to consider new growth avenues for remaining relevant to businesses.

Key Highlights

• The personalization via printed products, like flyers and templates, is one of the emerging trends that will drive the market in the coming years. These printed products are a great form of material for individuals and enterprise businesses. The brand-new product design technologies will help the digital graphic print industry to offer customers a personalized experience. The printing vendors that employ devices and offer such solutions will surely have a competitive edge over the competition and account for a larger share of the market. The trend of personalized prints can be offered to a vast consumer base via e-commerce sites. By 2020, it will consider as a huge differentiating factor in increasing sales and business profits.
• As the requirement of face masks is rising due to the COVID-19 crisis, the customers of the Asia-pacific countries are moving toward customized printed face masks. Digital graphic printing enables the ability to print any design in less time. Kornit has invested in printing masks with "Kornit NeoPigment" inks, which is also sustainably-made and a significant safe choice for the consumer.
• The increasing usage of durable substrates for digital graphic printing in end-use applications, such as banknote printing, which comes under security printing, is also driving the growth of the market. For example, in 2019, the Central Bank of Armenia has introduced a new range of banknotes, which are printed on a durable substrate. These substrates offer a suitable design and security features, which needs to be updated by the bank authority. Arman Hovhannisyan, a Currency Issue Specialist at the Bank, told Currency News what these changes are connected with and how the new banknotes surpass the old ones.
• As a result of the COVID-19 situation, many digital graphic printing players have suffered massive losses, as the trade fairs have been canceled, and many shops are not open due to lockdown situations. Kornit Digital, which is a significant provider of digital printing solutions for commercial printing applications, has provided an update regards to the impact of the COVID-19 on its business operations. The Company is withdrawing Q1 2020 guidance and presently expects Q1 2020 revenues will be 35-45% below the USD 47 million low-end of its previous revenue count.
• The significantly high cost of investment in digital graphic printing has been considered as a restraining factor for the growth of the overall market. These costs included the purchase price and installation fees, maintenance and support costs, and the ink and other consumables for the printers.

Key Market Trends

Inkjet Printing Process is Expected to Hold a Significant Share in the Market Over the Forecast Period

• The major drivers for the adoption of the inkjet printing process in digital graphic printing applications across industries are low cost, high quality of output, capable of printing fine and smooth details, capable of printing in vivid color, suitable for printing pictures, easy to use, less warm-up time, etc.
• Increasing investment from digital printing players for developing advanced inkjet technologies is boosting the speed of innovations. For instance, in June 2019, Xerox Corporation launched the "Baltoro HF" inkjet printer, which enables customers to print high-volume, transactional work and catalogs on a single press with significantly better image quality and productivity than other processes. The “Baltoro HF” is the company’s first product using this printing platform.
• In May 2020, EFI Cubik developed its single-pass digital inkjet printer for commercial wood decoration applications. Digital inkjet printing on wood consists of direct printing on panels for doors, wood planks, veneer, and furniture, therefore eliminating direct contact.
• Colours Factory, which is one of the fast-growing print providers that use multiple printing technologies for the advertising industry, invests in a large-format digital inkjet printer from Agfa. The newly developed printer has quintupled the UV inkjet printing potential on various flexible and rigid media as per the company's observation. These innovative inkjet printing solutions will help the segment to grow more in the coming years.
• Inkjet printers are also increasingly used by government agencies for increasing security printing applications on currency printing. For example, the Central Bank of Armenia is using inkjet printers to reduce the threats of counterfeiting currencies. Inkjet printers help to ease the process of putting security holograms in the currency.

Asia Pacific Region is Expected to Grow at a Highest Rate Throughout the Forecast Period

• The digital graphic printing market in the Asia Pacific region is anticipated to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. The region has witnessed significant growth in industrialization over the past few years, which therefore generated ample amounts of opportunities for the vendors to increase their offerings. Countries, like China, Japan, and India, are significant contributors to commercial and advertising prints and include one of the significant numbers of commercial printing partners and marketers. These factors are boosting the growth of the Asia Pacific digital graphic printing market during the forecast period.
• In May 2020, the Indian Commerce Ministry recommended the imposition of anti-dumping duty on Chinese digital printing plates to guard domestic manufacturers against cheap imports from China.
• In January 2020, Landa Corporation announced that the Chinese company Zhongrong Printing Group Co. Ltd had completed the installation of the Landa S10 Nanographic Printing press in the country. Zhongrong Printing Group Co. Ltd will use the Landa press to provide higher-quality, faster digital printing of short to medium-run commercial packaging applications for its prominent customer base of Chinese FMCG enterprises.
• Furthermore, in March 2020, Messe Frankfurt India, which is a significantly major trade fair organizer, announced the launch of “Screen Print India 2020 - New Delhi” debut edition. These increasing initiatives in the Asia Pacific region are expected to accentuate the growth of the market in the coming years.

Competitive Landscape

The digital graphic printing market is moderately competitive and consists of a significant number of global players. These players hold a considerable share in the market and are aiming to invest in expanding their customer base across the world. These vendors are focusing on new product and digital technology development, strategic alliances, and other organic and inorganic growth strategies to increase their market share during the forecast period.

• In May 2020, Italian metal decoration printer manufacturing company STA partnered with Fujifilm. This partnership will enable the company’s goal to boost its digital possibilities with the existing printing machines.
• In February 2020, the ColorJet group with an aim toward a sustainable print ecosystem launched its new range of digital printing technologies, “SONIQ HQ” and “FLAGJET.” As a part of “Make in India,” the company has developed these digital inkjet printers, which will help to fulfill the country’s sustainable goals to a greater extent.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
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