Inkjet Wholesale News aims to provide updates on the latest significant occurrences in the field of printing. Whether it’s the launch of a new technology or volatility of market prices, we’ll be here to give you the lowdown on what happened, when it happened, and what it means!
Transparency Market Research Predicts 5.8% CAGR of Global Printing Toner Market By 2020
When inkjet printers started matching laser printers for durability and affordability, many industry watchers started predicting the death of laser printing in the near future. However, if studies and researches into the laser printing segment are to be believed, nothing can be farther than the truth. In fact, numbers from such studies largely provide contradicting proof.
A global market intelligence company known as Transparent Market Research has conducted research into the global printing toner market and found that it is actually all set for moderate growth in the coming five years. According to the intelligence company, the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) at which the global printing toner market is expected to have between the years of 2014 and 2020 is 5.8 percent. As per the intelligence company’s study, the global printing toner market is expected to be worth around USD 4.33 billion by 2020 while it was valued at around USD 2.91 billion in 2013.
Apart from projecting the rate at which the global printing toner market will grow in the coming half decade, the market intelligence company also found trends pertaining to various components of the segment.
The intelligence company’s results validated many industry insiders’ predictions that chemically prepared printer toners will come to replace conventionally created printing toners. Trends of this switch have already been noticed in the industry with most Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and many aftermarket manufacturers developing technologies for chemically producing printing toners.
It is noticeable, however, that this is a new technology that has given birth to a new trend. The report from Transparent Market Research states that in 2013 conventionally produced toners dominated the global printing toner market with a total volume share of 70 percent. The report projected that total volume of chemically prepared printing toners will ‘surpass’ conventionally produced printing toners by 2020.
The colour laser printing market is also expected to grow in the next five years largely because the cost of colour printing has declined due to technological improvements. The report states that the colour toner segment of the global printing toner market can be expected to have a CAGR of about 3.5 percent.
The study also proved to be a shot in the arm for the Asia Pacific region of the global printing toner market. It revealed that the Asia Pacific region can be expected to play a bigger role in the global printing toner market even though the Americas and Europe are the current leaders with regard to revenues. The Asia Pacific region, according to Transparency Market Research, is expected to churn revenues around USD 1165 million by 2020.
The global printing toner market study, however, is expected to maintain its current trends when it comes to the raw materials used for the production of toner. As of 2013, there are three types of substances that printing toners are based on. These are styrene acrylic, polyester, and specialty polymer. In addition to these, various blends of polyester and styrene acrylic are also used to manufacturer printing toner. Most types of printing toner are made of either styrene acrylic or polyester. In 2013, about 95 percent of printing toner revenue came from products based on either styrene acrylic or polyester and this trend is expected to continue into the third decade of the century.
Incendiary Letter From Within Lexmark Reveals Potential Acquisition from Konica Minolta
It takes us a while to even consider rumours swirling around in the printing industry. This is especially true of rumours as big as this one. This is the reason why we haven’t reported on such rumours before. Even so, it is no longer a case of some people saying something to give birth to a rumour. There is now a solid document involved.
The rumour, as the headline says already, is that Lexmark may be sold off! What’s more is that the buyer is not some organisation or entrepreneur outside of the printing industry but also heavyweight in the form of Konica Minolta. The information has been revealed by another market intelligence company known as the Photizo Group.
The rumour broke out when the Photizo Group published an article on their blog titled, ‘Is This the Death of Lexmark’. In the post, the Group revealed that it had received an unsolicited letter from Lexmark Employees for Ethical Conduct (LEEC), a group that consists of existing or former Lexmark employees. The letter dated December, 2015, reveals categorically that ‘Paul Rooke, Jeri Isbell, the executive officers of Lexmark, and the Board of Directors’ are looking to sell off Lexmark to Konica Minolta.
As per the LEEC in the letter, Konica Minolta is mainly interested in buying Lexmark for its hardware product line which supposedly will help the Japanese firm fill gaps in its own production line. The letter further specifies that Konica Minolta is expected to integrate the acquired departments with its existing divisions after streamlining the existing operations and workforce within a period of three to five years.
This is not all that the letter includes either. The Photizo Group calls the letter ‘inflammatory’ and explains that there is even more information in it. For instance, the letter states that Lexmark is all set to launch a product in January 28, 2016 which will be the ‘largest and most significant’ in its history. Tying this launch and projecting its effects, the letter suggests that such a product launch will allow the OEM to terminate a number of its employees from the Research and Development department.
An interesting claim in the letter, according to the Photizo Group, is that Konica Minolta is not interested in Lexmark’s Enterprise Software Division. The Group finds the Enterprise Software Division of Lexmark to have potential for Konica Minolta. It suggests that the reputation Lexmark has created over the years in managed services and imaging hardware is worth Konica Minolta’s interest.
Needless to say, if there is any realistic element in this rumour, it could mean the end of one of the most recognisable OEMs active in the world today.
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