These are worrying times for the South African print and digitalisation market. Having just seen out the last of the Covid-19 pandemic slowdown with early signs of a healthy recovery in 2021 and 2022, the industry – like many others in the country – is being hamstrung by the power supply crisis in 2023, and for the foreseeable future.Power is not the only limiting factor in South Africa.
Additionally, there has been a transition from colour to monochrome due to limited stock of colour units, increased demand for home office use, and higher cost per page for colour A4 printing. As a result, there has been a shift towards mono A4 printing for home office use. In the production sector, mono production stands out as the most significant contributor. The large format domain is predicted to maintain its upward trajectory for at least the next 3-5 years, buoyed by unflagging demand. Furthermore, the influx of lower-priced Asian brands into the market is also fuelling growth.Still in South Africa, the scanner market is facing difficulty in returning to its pre-Covid levels, despite the notable shift towards digitalisation.
One solution would be to target the main growth industries. Our research shows that digitalisation has been embraced by four primary industries, namely Healthcare, Legal, Financial, and Logistics, which are the focus of scan vendors, scan suppliers, and scan service companies. These industries are the main drivers of the most substantial growth for scanning demands and digitalisation, and currently account for a minimum of 65% of the scanning market share.