The global production print market is entering a new phase of transformation. According to insights from the IDC MarketScape Worldwide High-Speed Inkjet 2025 Vendor Assessment, "The high-speed inkjet market is a segment of the production printing business that holds a lot of promise, but in some ways, the technology is ahead of demand."
“The speeds of these high-speed inkjet systems continue to increase as improved inkjet printheads, ink, and drying technologies come online. In fact, IDC sees that equipment manufacturers continue to innovate on all fronts to improve the quality available from high-speed inkjet presses, even as they improve the economics of digital printing and make presses easier to operate.”
The analyst’s report adds: “Print service providers are often shifting offset print volumes onto high-speed inkjet presses for cost reasons, such as:
- The cost of materials, such as paper and aluminum, is going up. Paper costs are pushing companies to switch to digital production because digital has less paper waste than traditional offset. Also, the cost of aluminum is increasing, so making aluminum offset plates is becoming more expensive, changing the dynamic between offset and digital production. Print service providers recognize the trend toward smaller runs, which magnifies these costs and drives investments in digital production equipment.
- “Labor costs are escalating. According to IDC's 2025 Production and Large Printing Survey, about 40% of print service providers report having labor issues within the past 12 months. If print shops can't find employees to operate their equipment, they occasionally change to digital equipment so that it is easier to operate and to find employees whom they can train to operate it. Another effect of rising labor costs is the need for more highly automated equipment. Through this research, IDC has encountered multiple operations that used to have four employees operating a single press; now they have one or two employees operating two or three production digital printers.”
The IDC MarketScape assessment evaluates vendors in the high-speed inkjet segment based on criteria such as reliability, productivity, print quality, workflow integration and long-term vendor viability. Rather than focusing solely on speed or headline specifications, the report emphasizes the importance of stable production performance and proven real-world implementation.
According to the report, “Consider Konica Minolta if your business seeks high levels of image quality and productivity, versatility across offset and specialty substrates, and robust support for short- and mid-run commercial, packaging, or specialty print production in a globally serviced, automated solution.“
The report highlights Konica Minolta’s “impressive portfolio and a road map for future products that offer very high levels of productivity and print quality based on the company's extensive inkjet technology”. It adds: “Konica Minolta has achieved significant success and progress since the last iteration of this IDC MarketScape. The company has continued to evolve both its high-speed cutsheet inkjet solutions and its adjacent portfolio with toner-based products for the document and label printing markets.”
“We are honored to be recognized as a high-speed inkjet technology leader,” said Toshi Uemura Head of Industrial Print Business, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe. With more than 150 years of heritage, Konica Minolta remains committed to delivering reliable technologies. Since its launch in 2016, the AccurioJet high-speed inkjet series has built more than a decade of proven performance and surpassed 400 installations worldwide.
