Aqueous Inkjet Printer Shipments Decline in Q3, UV and Eco-Solvent Rise

Shipments of large-format digital printers fell 4 percent worldwide in the third quarter of 2015 as compared to the same period in 2014, according to a new report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), a global market research and advisory firm.

According to an IDC release, “The third quarter is often the slowest quarter of the year in the global wide-format business, while the fourth quarter is often the strongest, as many print-for-pay shops take advantage of aggressive end-of-year manufacturer promotions.”

The decline wasn’t consistent across wide-format manufacturing segments, however. While aqueous inkjet numbers were down 1 percent year-over-year, shipments of large-format UV and eco-solvent digital printers grew, according to IDC, which cited model-end price cuts and clearances for the increases. These included a 20 percent jump in wide-format UV-curable printers as compared to the third quarter of 2014. In addition, year-to-date shipments of latex printers grew by 5 percent in the first three quarters of this year.

[This chart shows: Worldwide Large Format Printer (LFP) Top 5 Vendor Market Share, Q3 2015 (Unit Shipments)]

The report also ranked large-format printer manufacturers, naming the global leader, with in second place with 21 percent of global shipments followed, with growth in its dye-sub, technical, and eco-solvent printer segments. Fourth and fifth on the list were and , respectively.