Changing Regional Dynamics of the Barcode Printers Market

VDC’s annual coverage of the barcode printer market is pointing out to a significant regional trend – the growing dominance of Asia-Pacific. According to our recently published estimates and forecasts, the Asian market is expected to continue to account for a larger share of the overall revenues derived by printer vendors the world over – having outpaced EMEA in 2008, and slated to take over North America, when it comes to barcode printer investment, in 2015.

This stupendous (acceleration in) growth can be attributed to a number of factors including:

1. Infrastructure Development – Geographic demand for barcode printing solutions is shifting as vendors increasingly move their manufacturing operations base to emerging country markets, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Our market estimates indicate that APAC accounted for over 39% of the revenues that barcode printer suppliers derived from sales to the Industrial/ Manufacturing sector in 2010, a higher share than both Americas and EMEA.
2. Adoption of Global Standards – VDC expects the growing number of standards & compliance regulations across industry verticals to have an impact on barcode printer sales. Organizations are looking to leverage traceability to generate operational efficiencies, in addition to meeting government & industry mandates. Barcode solutions providers are tapping into growing opportunities within the perishable goods supply chain, for instance.
3. Dealer/Distributor Model – This is among the fastest growing distribution methodologies in emerging country markets, and is being heavily leveraged by barcode printer vendors in the APAC region to drive sustainable growth. Dealer/distributors (including VADs) sell to resellers who best understand local market ‘environments’ and are a valuable source for customer feedback. They also provide suppliers with access to a growing number of VARs and System Integrators. VDC’s latest research indicates that this channel is accounting for an increased share of suppliers’ barcode printer revenues.

We expect to continue exploring all of these trends and more in our coverage of the market for Barcode Printers when we launch our 2012 Barcode Solutions Market research program. You can find the outline for the same here.