Worldwide shipments of industrial printers declined 11.6% year over year to 78,500 units in the fourth quarter of 2022 (Q4, 2022), according to IDC. Results for the full year 2022 were also down, with shipments declining 12.9% compared to 2021.
“The fourth quarter was soft and concluded a down year for the sector overall,” said Tim Greene, research director, Hardcopy Solutions at IDC. “For much of the industrial printing market China is a key manufacturing center, so while the region is opening up now, for most of 2022 the market in China was slow and limited worldwide growth. 2022 is a prime example of how growth, driven by digital transformation, is not linear and can be disrupted by macro events.”
Q4 2022 Highlights
• Large format digital printer shipments declined 1.6% compared to the previous quarter (3Q22) and 11.7% year over year.
• Direct-to-garment (DTG) printer shipments grew 4.7% sequentially and 8.4% year over year in 4Q22.
• Direct-to-shape printer shipments saw a modest decline of 2.2% compared to Q3 2022 and 6.6% year over year.
• Worldwide shipments in the industrial textile segment declined almost 15% sequentially and nearly 50% compared to the full year 2021.
• Industrial digital label & packaging printer shipments declined 15.9% compared to Q3 2022 and 8.9% year over year.
Regional Analysis
• Shipments in the Central & Eastern European and Western European markets were bright spots with double-digit shipment growth for both regions in Q4 2022.
• China saw shipments decline 21% compared to Q3 2022.
• The strongest growth was in the Middle East and Africa region, which saw shipment growth of 36% compared to Q3 2022.
• 4Q22 shipments in North America (US + Canada) were down 6% compared to 3Q22.
2022 Highlights
