Photo courtesy Spoonflower, design by Cean Irminger
The digitally printed textiles market will experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.7 per cent, according to a new study from InfoTrends, a worldwide research and strategic consulting firm.
The recently completed report, titled Transforming Textile Printing, explores the market’s supply chain and overall size, as well various factors that are driving demand for digitally produced textile graphics. The study’s findings are based on interviews with digital textile buyers, specifiers, print service providers (PSPs) and printing hardware suppliers, inkjet printhead manufacturers and system integrators around the world.
Within a global textile industry worth approximately $1 trillion, InfoTrends estimates the value of digitally printed textiles—including décor, soft signage, industrial products and garments—reached $10.3 billion in 2012, representing less than 1.5 per cent of the total market. The dominant production processes use analogue flatbed and rotary screen presses. While the digital side of the market is relatively small, however, it is growing rapidly.
Specifically, InfoTrends forecasts the estimated 30.7 per cent CAGR for revenues generated from digital textile printing equipment and inks. The following are some of the key trends the company cites for this rate of growth:
- The emergence of high-quality, high-speed inkjet printheads.
- The availability of moderately priced textile printing systems, enabling new players to enter the market.
- ‘Open-system’ inkjet printheads that support multiple ink suppliers, resulting in lower ink prices.
- Risk mitigation for retailers and brand marketers, based on the consistent quality of digital printing.
“The potential for digital printing to influence the printed textile market has long been promised,” says Scott Phinney, InfoTrends’ director of sales, “yet only now, with these new dynamics and the introduction of super-high-speed digital printing systems with open ink configurations, are fabric-printing companies able to meet new customer demands. The work currently produced on flatbed screen textile presses is well within the capabilities of the latest generation of digital textile printers.”
The report covers a variety of types of printing hardware, printheads, inks and textile fibres and fabrics. It also addresses sustainability in digital textile printing. For more information, visit www.infotrends.com.
