AutoID & Data Capture Blog




New Report: 2016 Global Mobile Thermal Printing Solutions Market

by Shahroze Husain | 08/18/2016

VDC recently published a report focused on Mobile Thermal Printing Solutions. The following blog highlights some of our thoughts on this market and its potential.

The global mobile thermal printer revenues posted a 7% growth from 2014 to 2015 and are expected to grow to $509M by the year 2020. Led by increasing investments on mobile thermal printers by retailers and third party logistics providers in the growing e-commerce space, the Americas will continue to be the major market for these solutions with 53% of global revenue shipments and growth at an expected 7.5% through the forecast period. This is followed by an equally high growth rate in Asia via deployments of mobile printers across a range of application environments in emerging markets like China and South Korea, while EMEA revenues will grow at a comparatively slower rate due to geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties in the region.



The global mobile thermal printer competitive landscape is very fragmented at this time. Market leaders Zebra and Honeywell face competition from Asian manufacturers such as Bixolon, Epson and Brother among others. Participation of smaller players in the market such as Woosim Systems, Able Systems, Printek and Seiko Instruments are also putting pressure on these aforementioned vendors to innovate and differentiate themselves from their competitors with unique features. Investment into the development of features such as improved battery life, device management, payment capture and wireless connectivity will drive greater revenue generation for vendors while differentiating them from their competitors. In addition, offering localized support and services for their products will be vital to ensure success in the space. Vendors must also focus on developing strong partner networks with both dedicated distribution channel organizations and ISVs that can produce apps to work with new generations of consumer devices that are widely adopted by the enterprise and small and medium sized businesses today.

Currently, businesses across application environments are working to mobilize their workforces, pairing mobile printers with rugged and consumer-grade mobile devices to support daily operations including direct store delivery (DSD), proof-of-delivery, mobile point of sale (mPOS), shelf labeling, and more. Applications such as receipt printing, order fulfillment, parcel/item tracking, invoicing, proof-of-delivery, last mile delivery, and inventory management will be the types of applications driving mobile printer investments.

For more information and insights about the Global Mobile Thermal Printer Market, please feel free to download the Executive Brief to our report or contact us to learn how to gain access to the full report at info@vdcresearch.com.

(With Rachel Walker, Research Assistant)