A new report from Smithers Pira, ‘The Future of Functional and Industrial Print to 2020’, examines the use of printing-for-profit in areas outside the traditional graphics and packaging arenas, namely in 3D printing, printed electronics and biomedical applications in a collective industry quantified by the organisation as worth $67 billion in 2015 – and reaching more than $107 billion in 2020.
“Industrial functional print is growing as demand grows for construction, automotive, electronics and manufactured products that use print – and there is more print involved in the manufacturing processes. This is in stark contrast to publication and commercial print, where volumes are declining,” said Sean Smyth, print consultant and author of the report. “Industrial print is very attractive to equipment and consumable suppliers to develop niche applications that may grow significantly, as is the case for inkjet printing of ceramic tiles.”
Another new report from Smithers Pira, ‘The Future of Printer Demographics to 2020’, examines the current state of the commercial printing industry around the world, focusing on historic and current company and employment situation, as well as examining trends in terms of company size, printer revenues and other key indicators.
“Although there have been more signs of stability into 2014/15, the long-term trend is likely to be one of further declines in demand, as well as greater efficiencies in print administration and production, and greater industry consolidation,” said report author Ashley Santiago Gange.
The total number of employees in printing and allied industries in the 63 countries reviewed in the study was 7,161,927 people in 2014. This was 6.4% up from 6,733,101 in 2010. These people were employed by 691,510 companies in 2014, 2.1% up from 677,334 in 2010.
The largest economies in Western Europe and North America, for example, have been characterised by low or negative economic growth in recent years. In these regions the number of companies active in printing and allied industries declined by 12.0% and 7.7% respectively over the 2010 to 2014 review period.
Overall global growth in employment in printing and allied industries was almost entirely the result of expansion in these industries in the Asia region, where the number of people employed rose by 569,198 over the 2010 to 2014 period. Developments in countries in this region were typically the opposite of those in North America and the largest economies of Western Europe. Growing GDPs and overall demand in many Asian countries supported advertising expenditure and enabled investment in printing and allied industries, while rates of per capita wealth were not high enough for expenditure on digital media consumer electronics to outweigh drivers contributing to growth. Other factors supporting expansion in these industries in various countries in the Asia region included rising literacy rates, price competitiveness, export activity and government support. Of reviewed global totals in 2014, the Asia region accounted for 63.9% and 71.9% of companies and employees respectively.