Global sales of Chinese branded large format printer grow 17% in 2023

Large format printers edged up by 0.2% in sales Year-on-Year (YoY) worldwide in 2023, according to IDC. During this period, international brands reported a 5.2% YoY drop due to the impact of the economic recession. Conversely, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic fading, Chinese brands injected new impetus into the worldwide market and saw their sales rise against the trend, up 17.0% YoY, accounting for 28.3% of the total market share.

In response to the sluggish domestic demand in 2023, Chinese brands shifted their business focus overseas. Benefiting from the price advantage, they were favored by users in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, South America, and Asia/Pacific (excluding China and Japan), with YoY sales growth of 35.5%, 29.7%, 20.1%, and 12.0%, respectively. In the Asia market, Chinese brands witnessed a YoY sales growth of over 30% in India, Indonesia, and Malaysia and their market share went up by nearly 5 percent compared with 2022.

Among inkjet printers, Chinese UV printers seized a global share of 19.1% in 2023, surpassing water-based ink printers; securing the position as the second largest ink type after weak solvent printers. The combination of durability and flexibility in UV printing allows it to be conducted on a wide range of media and substrates, which opens up more possibilities for its application. Currently, China’s leading UV large format printer brands such as KINGT and Docan are still expanding the application range of UV printing with their innovative capabilities. IDC believes that Chinese brands have further growth potential in the UV printing market.

Internationally, Chinese printers primarily serve the graphic printing service providers within the advertising industry. However, it is worth noting that those printers are gradually penetrating other use cases, such as garment printing, photo printing, and proofing. Their demand is rising despite relatively low shipments, with a full-year market value of around US$24 million.

CT Bureau