I.T. Strategies estimates that in 2003 a total of 276 billion pages were printed on narrow-format inkjet and color EP printers. However, not all pages printed on color printers are printed in color. I.T. Strategies estimates that more than 50 percent of these pages (152 billion) were printed in color. By 2008, the percentage of color pages increases to 62 percent (372 billion pages out of a total of 596 billion) a CAGR of 20 percent. These estimates do not include wide-format inkjet output, which is typically counted in square feet/meters, not pages. Pages are defined at 8.5 by 11 inches.
Color Pages Dominated by Electrophotography
Of the pages printed in color in 2003, 81 percent of them were printed on EP printers, which include desktop color lasers, connected color copiers and digital presses. The percentage of color pages printed on EP printers is expected to increase to 86 percent by 2008, a CAGR of 21 percent, as color laser printers continue to replace monochrome copiers and printers. According to Patti Williams, Consulting Partner at I.T. Strategies, "Growth in the digital printer industry today and in the future is predicated on the sales of digital color printers including narrow-format inkjet printers and color electrophotographic (EP) printers. In the home/consumer market, inkjet is virtually the only technology used to print in color. The corporate/business segment is dominated by color EP. However, not all the output from these printers is in color. Users use their color printers to print monochrome output as well as color."
Inkjet Pages
Of the 86 billion pages printed on inkjet printers in 2003, about a third (29 billion pages) were printed in color. By 2008, total pages printed on inkjet printers are expected to increase to 114 billion, with 44 percent printed in color, a CAGR of 11 percent.
EP Pages
Of the 190 billion pages printed on all color EP printers in 2003, 64 percent were printed in color. By 2008, color pages are expected to make up 67 percent of the 482 billion pages printed, a CAGR of 21 percent. A higher percentage of pages are printed in color on digital color EP printers than on inkjet printers because users have made the specific price-driven decision to purchase a color printer principally for color output.
