The research states, the growth will be driven by increased penetration in markets such as packaging, as well as greater competitiveness in longer runs as higher productivity kit is developed.

Population growth and increased urbanisation have reportedly influenced the consumer demand for print, as supply chains move to on-demand or short-turnaround models and the use of artificial intelligence and big data factor increasingly into manufacturing.

In India, many print companies are complementing their conventional offset ops with digital kit. In some space like high-end premium packaging and even POD book market, the focus there is a renewed interest in digital.

Most commercial print firms see digital print being 10-15% of their business. Mainly due to the increasing demand for short runs and quicker jobs. The perception is, digital print is a lower-value form of print and clients that are quality-driven still tend to prefer litho.

Meanwhile the digitally printed textiles market will grow to USD5.0bn in 2023, according to new research from Smithers Pira.

Data from a new report, The Future of Digital Textile Printing to 2023, shows that in 2018, the global value will reach USD3bn. This translates into 2.17 billion square metres of fabrics printed on inkjet machinery.

The study added that textiles work “presents a compelling opportunity” for inkjet technology developers and ink suppliers as growth in non-textiles printed media is a marginal 0.8% CAGR by value and is declining marginally by output volume according to another Smithers Pira study, The Future of Global Printing to 2022.