The pandemic may have altered work habits in another way as new data found that demand for printers was falling sharply. According to a report by analyst firm IDC based on a survey of 700 full-time employees, the number of pages printed from home and office devices fell 3% last year due to the shift to remote work. The decline was most extreme for the kinds of printers typically found in office environments; Laser printer usage fell XNUMX%, while AXNUMX printers piled up an even more magnificent layer of dust. To the contrary, the number of pages printed on inkjet printers (which are commonly used in the home) actually increased by four percent from XNUMX levels. IDC thinks that about half of the pages printed at home last year were work-related.
Goodbye printers
While IDC data shows print volume recovered somewhat in 5, the company forecasts a sharp decline in the near future. The obvious factor behind the decline is the rise of digital products and services, which has reduced demand for print in the traditionally most dependent industries (eg publishing, advertising, education). "Printing pages at home will not make up for the decline of the office as organizations and governments move forward with paperless thinking and digital transformation programs," said Ilona Stankeova, senior research manager, imaging devices and document solutions, IDC Europe. . Other possible factors include the cost of printer ink, as well as a growing awareness of environmental impact among the public. A recent report from consumer regulator Which?, for example, showed that some premium printing inks are now more expensive per milliliter than champagne. According to the most optimistic forecasts from IDC, the demand for printing is going to fall by 4% in XNUMX years. But in the worst case, the fall could reach XNUMX%. That being said, big brands will take comfort in the knowledge that about XNUMX trillion pages are still expected to be printed in XNUMX, or XNUMX million pages per minute. Although the impact of the print industry is steadily diminishing, it will still be some time before a truly paperless ecosystem reaches maturity.