Thermal Printhead Market - Growth Drivers and Challenges
Growth Drivers
- Higher Adoption of Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) - The rising number of cashless payments has increased the usage of barcodes for transactions. The "Cashless Vision," developed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in 2018, included recommendations for Japan's transition to a cashless society. By the time of the Osaka Expo in 2025, it hopes to have 40% of transactions be cashless, with the possibility of rising by 80% in the future.
- Growing Demand for Retail and Portable Thermal Printing Technologies - Retail e-commerce sales reached close to USD 5 trillion globally for the first time in 2022, making up more than a quarter of all retail sales. And despite slowing growth, overall spending is expected to surpass USD 7 trillion by 2025.
- Growing Utilization of Thermal Printers in the Healthcare Domain - For capturing real-time rhythm strips on hospital cardiac monitors, thermal printers are mostly employed in the healthcare industry. Therefore, rising cases of cardiovascular issues are expected to boost the thermal printhead market growth. According to the WHO, heart attacks and strokes account for more than four out of every five CVD deaths. Moreover, in the EU and across all of Europe, there are more than 6 million new cases of CVD each year.
- Increasing Launches of Technologically Advanced Products - The SmartDate Xtreme Plus thermal printhead, ideal for high speed, high resin coding on a variety of surfaces, was introduced in 2021. The printer uses high resin ribbons to produce crisp, high resin codes at up to 600 mm/s (2 ft/s) and has an advanced design.
Challenges
- Damages Caused by Excessive Heating & Poor Maintenance – A thermal printer produces a lot of heat that increases the risk of print head damage over time. It also contributes to extra associated expenditures. The printhead may become damaged if the heat and print ratio does bot match. Therefore, the thermal printer’s heat setting needs to be kept constantly clean because it can get scraped away while printing. Wear and tear can reduce the printer’s life expectancy and image quality.
- Limited Functions Available in Thermal Printers is Set to Hamper the Thermal Printhead Market Growth in the Forecast Period
- Strict Rules and Regulations for the Printing Industry is Estimated to Pose Limitation on the Market Expansion in Upcoming Times
Thermal Printhead Market Size and Forecast:
|
Base Year |
2025 |
|
Forecast Year |
2026-2035 |
|
CAGR |
4.5% |
|
Base Year Market Size (2025) |
USD 948.61 million |
|
Forecast Year Market Size (2035) |
USD 1.47 billion |
|
Regional Scope |
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Browse key industry insights with market data tables & charts from the report:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
In the year 2026, the industry size of thermal printhead is assessed at USD 987.03 million.
The global thermal printhead market size surpassed USD 948.61 million in 2025 and is projected to witness a CAGR of over 4.5%, crossing USD 1.47 billion revenue by 2035.
By 2035, the Asia Pacific region is poised to capture a 35% revenue share of the thermal printhead market, fostered by escalating digital transactions and widespread use of barcodes and QR-based payment systems.
Key players in the market include ITOCHU Corporation, Toshiba Tec Corporation, Shandong Hualing Electronics Co., Ltd., AOI Electronics, Alps Electric.
