The printer market - France

A printer is a peripheral device that allows computer data to be printed on paper. The printer market is dominated by international manufacturers (Canon, HP ...), which leaves little room for new entrants with strong barriers to entry already well established. The players in the printer market are focusing on turnkey services, allowing their customers to integrate their print flows and documents into their IT infrastructure. New types of printers are emerging, such as 3D printers: the 3D printer (or additive manufacturing) segment represents the sale of 3D printing machines and solutions as well as the sale of printed products via specialized machines to customers wishing to prototype products. A 3D printer is a machine that can design real objects in 3 dimensions from a file created with 3D design software. The objects created can be models, parts, scale models or prototypes. In general, the size of the objects produced is 30 x 30 x 30 cm. The printer market is expected to experience a revolution in the coming years with the democratization of the 3D printer, which offers SMEs and even individuals the ability to print small objects in plastic, wax, metal or plaster. In 2016, 200,000 3D printers with a global turnover of $1.6 billion were sold worldwide. In the next three years, the volume of 3D printers is expected to explode to 3 million units in 2018, representing sales of more than $13 billion.