Choosing a printer, replacing cartridges, understanding the difference between inkjet and laser: these everyday actions hide a sector in full transformation. The printer market is evolving rapidly, driven by technologies that are transforming both home offices and industrial production lines. To keep up with these changes without getting lost in jargon, one must have a reliable and updated source.
Inkjet and market share: why this format dominates the industry
Have you noticed that most consumer printers operate on inkjet technology? It’s no coincidence. According to Fortune Business Insights, inkjet is expected to account for nearly half of the printer market’s revenue by 2026. This dominance is explained by a combination of reasonable entry costs, versatility, and constant improvements in print head precision.
Manufacturers like Epson, Canon, and Brother are heavily investing in piezoelectric heads capable of projecting increasingly finer droplets. The result: sharp photo prints, smudge-free text documents, and better-controlled ink consumption than five years ago.
To explore these trends in detail, the tech space of Comptoir d’Encre gathers regularly updated news and comparisons on inkjet ranges, compatible consumables, and new scanner models.
Digital textile printing: the growth relay that comparators overlook
Most buying guides focus on office printers. They overlook a rapidly accelerating segment: digital textile printing. This process allows for direct printing on fabric, without the constraints of traditional techniques like screen printing.
Why this surge? Two main factors:
- The growing demand for customization. An independent creator can produce ten copies of an exclusive design without mobilizing an entire production line.
- The reduction of inventory. Printing on demand avoids storing rolls of pre-printed fabric that may never sell.
- Advancements in water-based inks, which are less polluting than the plastisol inks used in traditional screen printing.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the global digital textile printing market already exceeds several billion dollars. Fashion brands and home textile manufacturers are gradually converting to it.
Inks and sustainability: a filtering criterion
Environmental labeling is gaining ground in France, particularly in textiles and food. Low-impact inks are becoming a selling point, not just a marketing bonus. Manufacturers offering solvent-free formulations or those based on natural pigments are gaining a competitive edge.
This shift also concerns office cartridges. Remanufactured or refillable ink consumables reduce the amount of plastic discarded after each print cycle.
3D and UV printers: technologies coming out of the lab
3D printing is no longer reserved for prototypers. Companies like Georgia-Pacific are already using 3D printing to manufacture spare parts on-site, reducing their costs and production downtime. The principle is simple: instead of ordering a machined part with a lead time of several weeks, one models and prints it in a few hours.
On the consumer side, UV printers with 3D texture are entering the home market. The EufyMake E1, for example, offers personal UV printing capable of creating reliefs on phone cases, decorative objects, or advertising supports.
UV printing: how it works in practice
A UV printer projects special ink onto a surface and then instantly cures it with an ultraviolet lamp. The result adheres to various materials: glass, wood, metal, plastic. Unlike traditional inkjet, which requires absorbent paper, UV prints on almost any rigid substrate.
This versatility explains its rapid adoption in signage, interior decoration, and luxury packaging.
Choosing your consumables: cartridges, bottled ink, or toner
The price of a printer says little about its actual cost. What weighs in the long-term budget are the consumables. Here are the three main categories to know:
- Standard inkjet cartridges: convenient but expensive in volume. Suitable for low monthly print volumes.
- Rechargeable ink tanks (like EcoTank from Epson): higher initial investment, but cost per page reduced by five times or more. Ideal for households or small businesses that print regularly.
- Laser toner: cost-effective for high volumes of text documents. Photo quality lags behind that of high-end inkjet.
The choice depends on monthly volume and document type. An amateur photographer printing high-resolution A4s and an accountant printing invoices have different needs and consumable budgets.
Displayed price and cost per page: two different readings
A printer priced at 50 euros with cartridges costing 25 euros each ends up being more expensive over two years than a model priced at 250 euros with a refillable tank. The cost per page remains the only reliable indicator for comparing two models over time.
Manufacturers’ product sheets typically indicate the yield in number of pages per cartridge. Dividing the cartridge price by this yield gives the real cost of each printed sheet.
The printing market is undergoing a period of reorganization, with the rise of inkjet, the growth of digital textile printing, and the democratization of 3D and UV printing. Rather than simply enduring these changes, comparing and understanding them allows for making equipment choices that stand the test of time, whether for a shop, an office, or personal creative use.