The printer market - France

1.2 The global market

The global printing market was valued at $**.** billion in ****. The following chart shows a forecast of $**.** billion in ****, which corresponds to a CAGR of *.**%.

Global Printing Market World, ****-****, USD billion Source: ****

This global growth can be attributed to the dynamism of emerging markets such as China, India and South East Asia as a whole. India in particular has seen new product launches such as HP's high-capacity Neverstop Laser printers and Canon's new ink tank printers.[***]

1.3 The French market is losing momentum

The manufacture of printers corresponds to the designation "manufacture of printing machinery", whose annual sales evolution is represented below. Thus, it can be noted that while the activity described a slight growth until ****, the slight decline in **** was followed by a strong decrease in **** of more than **% compared to ****. ****, however, offered a recovery to the sector with +**% of sales for the year.

Printing activity in France (***) France, ****,****, in billions of euros Source: ****

1.4 International Trade

The following graph describes a significant trade deficit for France in printing machinery. Indeed, if we note a decrease of the total flows in ****, exports exceed every year largely the imports.

Foreign trade in printing machinery (***) France, ****-****, in USD billion Source: ****

The following chart shows the main countries from which France imports printing machinery. The majority are European countries, as well as China and Vietnam. Major beneficiaries of French imports of printing machinery France, ****, in % Source: UN Comtrade French exports also concern a majority of European countries, with the exception of the United States. Even if the destinations are less concentrated than for imports. Main importers of French printing machinery France, ****, in % Source: ****

2.1 Printer sales in France

The Syndicat National des Entreprises de Solutions et Systèmes d'Information et d'Impression provides an overview of annual sales of printing machines. Thus, we note that these sales know a constant decrease which increased in **** to reach a little more than * million machines sold.

Sales of printing machines in France France, ****-****, in millions of units Source: ****

If we look at the breakdown of its sales in ****, we note that in terms of units sold, copiers for A* format are the most represented, while large format printers are logically less represented.

Breakdown of printing machine sales France, ****, in units Source: ****

With such differences in order of magnitude observed, it is interesting to analyze the evolution of the volume of these sales indexed at *** in ****. Thus, the following graph shows that while large format printers have seen a strong decrease in sales in **** with the health crisis and the closure of offices, other types of printers such as A* multifunction copiers, more suitable for personal use, have seen their sales increase with the development of teleworking.

Change in sales volume by type of printing machine France, ****-****, in index ***=**** Source: ****

2.2 The 3D printer, an increasingly popular product

According to a **** market report by market leader Sculpteothe penetration rate of *D printers is constantly evolving. In fact, as we can see from the graph below, this penetration rate has increased from *% in **** to nearly **% in ****. Beyond the growing popularity of *D printers, the continuous growth of the penetration rate is also explained by the decreasing costs and increasing competitiveness of *D printers.

*D printer penetration rate trends World, ****-****, in percent Source: ****

Furthermore, according to the same report, the purchase of a *D printer appears in the top * priorities of companies in **** behind the desire toaccelerate product development, offer custom products, increase production flexibility, and reduce investments.

Which area related to *D printing is your company's priority? France, ****, in percent Source: ****

According to Sculpteo's **** report, the health crisis has seen an increase in interest in *D printing technologies to build more resilient supply chains. Thus, the disruptions to supply chains caused by the health crisis have led companies to turn to these technologies to meet a demand and accelerate their digital transformation.

3.1 French manufacturing of printing machines

The following graph shows the evolution of employment and establishments in the French printing machinery manufacturing sector. Thus, we note a slight growth in the number of employees until ****, in parallel with the opening of new establishments in **** and ****.

Printing machinery manufacturing sector France, ****-****, in units Source: ****

The majority of activity was concentrated in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Île-de-France regions.

The Syndicat National des Entreprises de Solutions et Systèmes d'Information et d'Impression(***) groups the main companies in the sector:

Canon France, Conibi, Epson France, Konica Minolta Business Solutions France, Kyocera Document Solutions France, Oki Europe, Rex Rotary, Ricoh France, Riso, Sharp Business System France, Toshiba tec France Imaging System, Xerox France.

3.2 Delivery difficulties

According to the SNESSII, three quarters of companies in the sector encountered delivery difficulties in the first half of ****. The following graph shows the origins of these difficulties, which may have caused delivery times to increase by an average of * weeks.

Origin of delivery difficulties encountered France, ****, in Source: ****

3.3 3D printing market players in France

The *D printing market is in full swing. In fact, we can see that several types of players coexist in this market:

Large groups: Large, diversified, multi-activity groups such as General Electric, HP, Michelin or Siemens Pure players: *D printing specialists (***) such as *D Systems, Stratasys and Xerox

The cohabitation of these two types of players is particularly visible when looking at the patents filed. As we can see below, the market is still dominated by large players, with the critical mass to finance advanced R&D programs.

Patents filed in the *D printing sector World, ****, in units Source: ****

Despite this, pure players have a comparative advantage due to their technological lead. The world's number * in *D printing is the American company *DSystems, whose founder also filed the patent for stereolithography, the first *D printing technique, in ****. The number * in the world is also American and is called Stratasys. Founded in **** by Steve Crump, Stratasys is the leader in industrial FDM (***) *D printing solutions with the Objet line. The company is also known for acquiring Makerbot industries in ****, the world's number * consumer printer company.

4.1 Printing technologies available on the French market

We currently distinguish three printing technologies on the French market:

Theink jet printing consists in a projection of drops of inks on the support of the impression. Channels filled with ink see their pressure vary in order to induce these projections. This variation of pressure is often obtained by a play on the temperature of ink. The ink jet printing is carried out line by line. It is the most affordable technology which makes it the preferred choice of individuals and small businesses. Laser printing works in a similar way to a photocopier. The difference is the integration of a laser beam that produces a copy on a photosensitive drum. The surfaces marked by this laser then attract ink through electrostatic forces. Indeed, the ink particles are negatively charged and are thus attracted by the parts of the drum illuminated by the laser. In the case of the color impression, this process is repeated four times for the following inks: black, yellow, cyan then magenta. The dry ink deposited on the drum is then laid out on the support of impression, which is then heated in order to melt ink and finalize the impression. This technology is characterized by its speed ...

4.2 3D printers offer

*D printing relies on several underlying technologies. NeaAccording to a **** market report by market leader Sculpteo* main technologies are used in the *D printing industry:

Fused deposition modeling(***): this is a type of additive manufacturing technology that allows the construction of three-dimensional objects, prototypes and products through a computer-aided or computer-driven manufacturing process. It is used in *D printing or the design of solid models and prototypes in a layered or additive approach. Selective laser sintering(***): This is a selective laser sintering prototyping technique without the use of liquids that creates *D objects from powders sintered or fused by a high-power laser. Stereolithography" (***).

The most widely used technologies for *D printing World, ****, in Source: ****

According to Internet price comparisons, the price of a *D printer depends on the range and use (***). Accessibility to *D printers has gradually become more democratic since **** in France, with prices reaching up to €***,*** for an average of €*,*** for the first price. There are now * main price ranges for *D printers in France: The first prices, between *** € and **** €, which correspond to *D printers of small volumes Mid-range *D printers are the most common, with prices ranging from €*,*** to €*,*** High-end *D printers offering larger volumes, a wider range ...

5.1 Regulatory framework

Due to the recent emergence of additive manufacturing technologies, there is a relative lack of national or international regulation. However, the multiplication of standards allows for a precise framework of *D printing processes.

A regulation resulting from the use of chemical products

In a professional context, the site where a *D printer is installed becomes de facto a specific pollution areaArticle R****-* provides that premises with specific pollution are premises in which dangerous or annoying substances are emitted in the form of gases, vapors, solid or liquid aerosols other than those linked to the sole presence of humans, as well as premises that may contain sources of potentially pathogenic micro-organisms. The obligations arising from the definition of these premises concern ventilation and the control of pollutants.

The thermoplastic filaments used in *D printing are all polymers, i.e. molecules characterized by the sequence of one or more types of monomer units. This name implies the respect of the regulation REACH (***).

Standardization to complement regulations

Numerous national and international standards relating to additive manufacturing have emerged. These standards have developed following the evolution of uses and technologies.

In October ****, AFNOR, the French association of standardization, defines by the standard NF E**-*** ...

6.1 Segmentation

• HP Hewlett Packard
• Canon
• Epson
• Stratasys
• Prodways
• 3DCeram Sinto
• Kyocera
• Lexmark
• Sharp
• Brother France
• OKI Electric
• Dymo (Newell Brands)
• Kodak
• Pantum