Barcode Printers Market

Barcode printers are dedicated printing devices utilized for printing barcodes and product labels. Barcode printers differ slightly from traditional printers as these printers use different types of consumables to achieve a barcode print image. These printers are constructed in such a way that they can achieve a clear machine readable barcode prints at a faster printing speeds with very low costs involved. The global Barcode Printers market is projected to register a CAGR of 7.4% in terms of sales over the forecast period of 2016 to 2026 primarily driven by factors affecting its end use.

Growth in the manufacturing, retail and e-commerce sectors has fuelled the sales of barcode printers worldwide

Barcode printers are application driven devices where its growth is dependent on the growth of the end use industry. One such application is the manufacturing sector, where it is primarily used to label each and every part of the product as well as the final product with barcode in order to reduce chaos in the production line and improve manufacturing efficiency. Manufacturing sector in the present global scenario is on a slow but steady growth, thereby driving the sales of barcode printers throughout the forecast period. Improvements in global trade are also likely to drive the growth of the barcode printers market as each shipment imported or exported is labelled and coded with barcodes for the purpose of recording and storing the information about the goods or products.

Barcoding system has been increasingly adopted in the retail sector where it has become the standard for labeling and storing the information about the product. This information is later retrieved through scanners that provides the retailers about the count of the same product in the shop floor and inventory as well as providing the customers and cashiers with the price of the product. Growing retail sector owing to higher disposable income and consumerism and boost in e-commerce has positively driven the growth of the barcode printers market.

However, threat of RFID tags as substitutes to barcode labels and low compatibility of barcode printers with different operating systems act as restraints in the global barcode printers market.

Market Segmentation

The industrial barcode printer segment holds the highest market share in the global barcode printers market

The printer type segment of the barcode printers market includes Desktop Barcode Printer, Industrial Barcode Printer, Mobile Barcode Printer and Others. The Industrial Barcode Printer segment holds the highest market share of 46.1% closely followed by Desktop Barcode Printer in the Barcode Printers Market. The Industrial Barcode Printer segment is also expected to dominate in the forecast period with a CAGR of 8.3% due to a preference of sturdy and rugged barcode printers with higher productivity.

Thermal transfer printing technology is highly popular due to less printing costs involved

On the basis of printing technology, the market has been divided into Thermal Transfer, Direct Thermal, Dot Matrix, Laser and Ink Jet. Thermal Transfer segment holds the highest market share amongst all with 62.8% and is expected to improve further in the forecast period owing to very less cost involved, while Dot Matrix, Laser and Ink Jet printing technologies are least preferred technologies and are on the verge of being phased out.

Dealer/Distributor is the most preferred supply channel due to higher distribution efficiency and faster delivery times

On the basis of Distribution Channel, the market is segmented as Direct-to-End User, Direct-to-OEM, Dealer/Distributor and Systems Integrator. Dealer/Distributor is the most preferred supply channel and is expected to dominate in the future due to higher distribution efficiency, low supply costs and faster delivery times.

North America and Western Europe are the most lucrative markets for the barcode printers

North America and Western Europe are the most promising regions for the growth of the market owing to higher preference of barcoding technology in different applications, while the market in the Latin America region is on a slow and stagnant growth due to low adoption of barcoding technology. The growth of the Barcode Printers market in APEJ region may also grow at a slower pace due to saturation and slow down of manufacturing sector in China.

Strategy adopted by key market players is to continuously upgrade their existing product line up rather than launching new products from scratch

Major players identified in the Barcode Printers market are Zebra Technologies Corporation, Avery Dennison Corporation, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd., Toshiba TEC Corporation, and Honeywell International, Inc. committing a combined market share of over 50%. Other major players are SATO Holdings Corporation, Printronix, Inc. and TSC Auto Id Technology Co., Ltd. supplying to various end use industries and sectors. Strategies employed by key players to increase their market share are continuous upgrade of their existing product line up rather than innovating and launching newer products from scratch.