Market Direction
 
Until recently, the entire focus of solvent-based inkjet printer vendors, from a segmentation standpoint, had been on sign shops and screen printers. Over the past 2 years, a number of new low-end wide format solvent-based inkjet printers have been introduced that enable a variety of PSPs beyond sign shops and screen printers, from photo labs to quick print shops, to cost effectively produce outdoor graphics.

These new systems feature the ability to print onto uncoated substrates and offer list prices as low as $12,000. These new low-end units will be the major growth driver in the solvent inkjet arena over the next 3 – 5 years.

When all revenues are considered for hardware, ink, and media, the total wide format solvent-based inkjet market was valued at $1.45 billion in 2003. This amount is expected to surpass $3.12 billion by 2008, representing a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 16.7%.

Figure 1: Worldwide Wide Format Solvent Inkjet Revenue ($Millions)

Hardware

On a worldwide basis, InfoTrends/CAP Ventures expects shipments in the total solvent-based inkjet hardware market to increase from 13,385 units in 2003 to over 35,000 units in 2008, representing a CAGR of 21.5%. Within that total market, however, the low end of the market is growing the fastest achieving a CAGR of 28.1% over the forecast period.

Figure 2: Worldwide Wide Format Solvent Inkjet Hardware Shipments

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures expects the growth in the low-end market to be driven by the adoption of improved inkjet devices in sign shops and screen printers, as well as the adoption of outdoor graphics printers by non-traditional purchasers like photo labs, repro shops, and quick printers.

The preceding is an excerpt from InfoTrends/CAP Ventures’ forecast entitled Wide Format Solvent Inkjet Market Forecast: 2003-2008. The complete document is available immediately. To learn more about the report or to make a purchase, please contact Alison Hipp at (781) 616-2100, ext. 126 or alison_hipp@infotrends.com.