When Japan’s Epson announced plans in November last year to end the production and sale of laser printers by 2026, attention shifted to the undercurrents of fast-evolving global printing technologies in a ballooning multibillion-dollar industry.
Although Epson’s declaration stood out, a lot has been happening in the shadows as rival giant printer producers, including its Japanese counterpart Kyocera and America’s Hewlett-Packard, also strived to keep in step with morphing technologies.
From the rudimentary woodblock printing inventions in China in 200AD to the iconic ‘The Gutenberg Bible’ mass printer in 1455 and now digital printing including the 3D craze, a lot has changed in the industry over the centuries.
Today printing is faster and more convenient in that it is now possible to print from a digital file straight from the comfort of your house—a big shift from the strenuous experience of the pioneer vintage Chinese woodblock printers, which curved designs out of wood blocks, inked their raised parts and placed fabric or papers on them with some pressure to create images.
Over the past close to 50 years, there has been a gradual shift towards digital printing which has picked up sharply in the past few years to now account for about half of the market, according to industry data.
But even within the digital printing technology space, there is an ongoing race courtesy of new inventions such as printing with light and 3D printing besides reflections on its inkjet and laser jet printing segments amid industry dynamics such as environmental and energy sustainability as well demand for quality finishes on commercial printed work.
Proponents of the inkjet printing segment tout it as an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient option.
“Inkjet technology can reduce energy consumption compared to laser, and with a compact footprint and a lightweight design, these products help limit resources used during production and shipping. This reduced size also means they easily integrate into the office and save space. High-yield ink cartridges also reduce material usage, shipping, storage and end-of-use management of consumables,” Mukesh Bector, Epson Regional Head, East and West Africa says.
“The decision to move away from laser printers is based on the limited ability of laser technology to make significant strides towards improved sustainability, primarily due to its requirement for heat during the print process, leading to increased energy use,” he added.
Rival Kyocera in its part says industry and consumer preferences will shape the future of printing technologies.
“The technology that a company chooses for its print output will help determine how eco-friendly the business becomes. Digital inkjet printing technology is a prime example of a printing method that will support a reduction of environmental contamination,” Kyocera says in a brief.
The company says inkjet printers consume less electricity compared to other digital technologies, such as laser devices.
“Laser printing uses significant quantities of energy as these machines must heat up the toner in preparation for printing, and maintain these very high temperatures throughout the entire process,” Kyocera says.
“In addition, laser devices function with a variety of advanced units and supplies, which all-together increase the energy consumption of this printing technique, whereas inkjet printers only require the use of cartridges,” it adds.
Despite the push towards inkjet printers, Hewlett-Packard still banks on laser jet digital technology and has lined up a new range of modified printers that consume less power.
The US company in May this year announced a new lineup of LaserJet printers which it claimed have a sustainable TerraJet toner technology that delivers up to 27 percent reduced energy use and up to 78 percent less plastic packaging.
Besides the race between laser and inkjet digital printing technologies, the focus of industry players also stays on the evolution of newer technologies including printing with light and 3D printing.
Until recently, printing was always two-dimension (2D) but with the evolvement of technology came 3D printing where everything is done in the air and one doesn’t require substrate, ink, or toner.
A 3D printer uses specific materials in place of ink or toner and puts them together like a normal printer, except that it piles layers on top of each other till they start thickening up. As a result, a digital image of a physical item can be converted into a real object.
The current 3D printing technology is, however, slow and expensive and it will be critical for deeper innovations to reverse these shortfalls.
