Shipments of industrial printers declined by 1% in 2024 compared to 2023, according to the newest release from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Industrial Printer Tracker.
Total shipments in the fourth quarter were 5% lower than they were in Q4 2023, which dragged overall shipments down for the year.
“For all of 2024 there were industrial printer segments where shipments grew nicely and somewhere shipments were flat or in decline. The end result is that total industrial printer shipments were slightly lower for the year,” says Tim Greene, research director, Hardcopy Solutions at IDC. “We are seeing a trend through 2024 across some of these segments towards faster, more productive, more automated solutions that is driving changes in value of shipments in various regions.”
Worldwide Industrial Segment Highlights for all of 2024
- Large format digital printer shipments declined by 1,2% compared to 2023.
- Year-over-year growth in direct-to-shape (7,8%) and industrial textile (+12,3%) printers was largely offset by declines in the direct-to-garment segment (-12,3%).
- Label & packaging printer shipments grew by 19,4% compared to 20234.
Worldwide Industrial Segment Highlights for Q4 2024
- Q4 was the strongest quarter in all of 2024 for large format printer shipments on a worldwide basis but was still 5% below Q4 in 2023.
- DTG printer shipments declined by 6% in Q4 2024 compared to Q4 2023.
- Industrial textile printer shipments grew by 6,3% in Q4 2024 compared to Q4 2023.
- Label & packaging printer shipments grew by 6,8% in Q4 2024 compared to Q4 2023.
Regional Analysis for all of 2024
- Latin America (19,7%) and Central & Eastern Europe (4%) were the fastest growing regions for all of 2024.
- North America represented 25% of total industrial printer shipments in 2024, but shipments declined by almost 6% compared to 2023.
- Japan had modest growth in total industrial printer shipments in 2024 compared to 2023.
- Western Europe and China both saw modest declines in shipments compared to 2023.
Regional Analysis for Q4 2024
- For the fourth quarter shipments of industrial printers in North America were essentially flat compared to Q3 2024.
- Latin America was a bright spot with shipments up by 22,3% in Q4.
- While the APJ region was down overall in Q4, industrial printer shipments in Japan grew by 1,2% compared to Q4 in 2023.
- Shipments in Central & Eastern Europe increased 7,2% in Q4 while shipments were off in Western Europe by 3,6% compared to Q4 2023.
| Worldwide Industrial Printer Shipments and Shipment Value Share and Sequential Growth, Q4 2024 | ||||
| Product Category | 4Q24 Share of Shipments | 3Q24/4Q24 Shipment change | 4Q24 Share of Shipment Value | 3Q24/4Q24 Shipment Value Growth |
| Direct to Garment | 1.1% | -6.5% | 4.5% | 3.5% |
| Direct to Shape | 1.6% | -1.9% | 2.8% | -1.9% |
| Industrial Textile | 0.9% | -3.0% | 10.5% | +2.5% |
| Label & Packaging | 0.5% | +2.8% | 18.0% | +29.5% |
| Large Format | 95.9% | +4.6% | 64.1% | +2.4% |
| Total | 100% | +4.3% | 100% | +6.3% |
| Source: IDC Worldwide Quarterly Industrial Printer Tracker, September 2024 | ||||