The Inkjet POD Market

In the current era where digital technology is reshaping the printing industry, print on demand (POD) is becoming a key pivot to drive changes in the book, magazine, and graphic markets. The core advantages of "zero inventory, fast response, and personalization" of on-demand inkjet printing (POD) have provided solutions to the long-standing pain points of inventory backlog, out of print and long tail book demand in the traditional publishing industry. It have also achieved the ultimate cost control of graphic and textual printing. With the breakthrough of inkjet technology in cost bottlenecks, the popularization of inkjet printing equipment, the gradual improvement of pre - and post digital printing support, and the enhancement of intelligent order processing capabilities, the model of on-demand printing industry has gradually matured. 2025 can be called the "starter year of POD printing development", and China's on-demand printing is moving from "large-scale production" to a new era of "precision service".

The "14th Five Year Plan" for the publishing industry has for the first time included "on-demand printing" as a key project, with an average annual growth rate of over 30% for "small batch, multi batch" orders such as textbooks, teaching aids, works, personalized books, and complimentary sample books. The "one book printing" service on various platforms has driven the rapid development of habits among end users. The gradual landing and application of high-speed art paper inkjet rotary equipment represented by Founder and others have made the printing cost --- both offset paper and art paper colored single sheet--- close to traditional offset printing, and the printing quality has also approached it, clearing some obstacles for large-scale on-demand printing.

The industry's internal competition is particularly severe in the POD offset paper printing market, with a sharp drop in the supply side's "technical threshold+capital surplus". Equipment manufacturers have further amplified the supply through financing methods such as "lease-purchase of machines", machines with consumables included, "free printing" and other competitive means. With the Education Burden-lightening Policies + e-book popularization, educational  orders have shrunk by more than 30%; The construction industry is shrinking, with demand for bidding documents, drawings, and other materials decreasing by 40% in two years. Customers are being educated by e-commerce platforms, and their prices in mind have been decreasing year after year. Although the compound annual growth rate of book and magazine POD is around 15%, at least half of the increment has been consumed up by the "price war".

The market size of graphic and text fast printing has basically reached its peak, and has begun to enter the stage of "volume reduction and internal competition". The utilization rate of production capacity in the book and magazine industry is less than 60%, and the inkjet production capacity in the graphic and text fields has doubled for three consecutive years, but the price decline is around 40%. The average net profit margin of book and magazine POD has decreased from 8% to 3%; The net profit margin of graphic and textual stores is generally below 5%, with at least 30% of stores experiencing losses.

The domestic POD printing market is standing on the junction of "technological inflection point + policy trend + demand upgrade". In the short term, cost, quality, and copyright are still limiting factors. With the large-scale application of AI, blockchain, and green materials, POD will no longer be a "supplement" to traditional printing, but a new infrastructure for the printing industry that is "zero inventory, never-ending printing, different pages, and new books". In the future, enterprises that take the lead in completing digital, intelligent, and green transformation will dominate the incremental market of publishing and printing, as well as graphic and text fast printing.

Institutions predict that the average price of POD books and periodicals will decrease to ￥0.026/print from 2026 to 2028; During this period, the popularity of art paper inkjet machines will further decrease by about 15%, and the number of graphic and textual stores will continue to decrease. Within three years, more than 10,000 could be eliminated, and the overall net profit margin of the industry will reach about 4.5%. The high-speed rotary installation volume may exceed 500 units/year, and the policy threshold will force small factories to clear.

How to break through under this internal competition market? The author summarizes the relevant viewpoints as follows:

1. Technical Cost Reduction: using art paper for inkjet printing and wire bonding to further reduce the cost of short plates by about 10%.
2. Product Layering: Black and white offset paper is used for low-priced drainage, while colored art paper and post-processing fine decoration are used for profit.
3. Copyright Content: Signed agreements with publishing houses and educational/cultural and creative IP institutions, based on sales revenue sharing, no advance paper, and zero inventory.
4. County Level Franchise: Output "micro factories + brands + ERPs + online orders", charge franchise fees and consumables fees, and expand production capacity to third - and fourth tier cities, avoiding the red ocean.
5. Digital Post-processing: Using robots and visual inspection to create personalized custom printing products, increasing per capita output and reducing return rates.
6. Green Certification: By passing FSC+Green Printing Labeling as early as possible and entering the government/textbook procurement whitelist, a 5% premium can be paid.

Transfer to rotation, seize pricing power; if not, be priced sooner or later. Inkjet rotation simultaneously provides the three elements of "high speed + art paper + low price" to printing factories and graphic stores, and is the only time window in recent years that can reverse outsourcing and regain control over the pricing power of short editions. Don't miss the popularity period of art paper inkjet printing in the past two years, otherwise you will have to compete head-on with offset printing factories in terms of cost in the next round, and if the digital and intelligent supporting facilities cannot catch up, you will loss competitiveness and no profit to keep up with.

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