Captured in a new report titled ‘The Future of Inkjet Printing to 2031’, the latest research from Smithers predicts that the combined value of the global graphic and packaging inkjet market (currently USD$101.1bn) plus the value of the smaller functional and industrial market (currently USD$29.2bn) will grow at 9.4 percent CAGR and 6.9 percent CAGR in value and volume respectively predicting the combined industry value to rise to USD$177bn by 2031. China and India are at the centre of this paradigm shift, with Asia Pacific fast emerging as the dominant force in global inkjet, drawing level with North America in volume by 2026 and overtaking it across all metrics by 2031.
Within end-use segments, ‘The Future of Inkjet Printing to 2031’ report finds packaging and labels are posting the highest growth rates as e-commerce, population growth and demand for short-run personalised print drive investment. Meanwhile, the research shows that Sustainability is reshaping the $9.9bn ink market, with water-based formulations gaining ground across all segments, including textile, corrugated and commercial print, and advancing rapidly into packaging, where food-contact migration regulations and recyclability requirements are accelerating the transition away from solvent-based alternatives. Rather than general-purpose platforms, manufacturers are developing presses engineered for specific applications, with proprietary print head technology increasingly central to that strategy. HP, Epson, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Kodak and now Canon and Domino (via Brother) all produce their own heads, giving them tighter control over system performance and total cost of ownership.
Finally, AI and automation are closing the cost gap between inkjet and analogue production. Predictive maintenance, AI-driven diagnostics, inline inspection and fleet management software are extending uptime, reducing waste and improving total cost of ownership. Generative AI is also entering the origination workflow, enabling unique imagery to be produced at commercial scale. By 2031, these capabilities are expected to be standard across the installed base.