IDC’s Worldwide Industrial Printer Tracker, Q2 2026 release, shows worldwide industrial printer shipment value declining both year-over-year (YoY) and quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) in Q2 2026. The pullback looks less like normal quarter-to-quarter variation and more like a response to a softer economic backdrop, with weaker end-user capital spending weighing on demand across most segments.

Large-format printers continued to account for the substantial majority of worldwide shipments in units and value, while higher-value categories, including the label & packaging and industrial textile segments, again accounted for a disproportionately large share of total market value relative to their unit contributions.

“This isn’t a uniform pullback. A handful of segments, direct-to-garment especially, are dragging the average down, while categories like label & packaging are actually holding,” says Senior Data Analyst Krystal Khaw, IDC.

Direct-to-film (DTF) printers, which IDC tracks as a distinct feature within the graphics segment, were one of the few pockets of shipment value growth in Q2 2026. DTF is an inkjet process in which designs are printed onto a film that is then heat-transferred onto garment or shape. It has gained traction among local fashion brands producing limited-run apparel lines and gifts, souvenir and other product making. United States now the largest single market for DTF-enabled printers by value, followed by China and APeJC.

Worldwide industrial product highlights for Q2 2026

• Large-format graphics printers remained the largest single segment by value in Q2 2026, accounting for close to half of total worldwide industrial printer value even as the segment’s shipment value declined both YoY and QoQ.
• Large-format CAD units for HP and Canon combined accounted for more than three-quarters of worldwide CAD large-format shipments in Q2 2026. This is shaped by enterprise procurement cycles and strong brand loyalty within architectural, engineering, and construction workflows. CAD posted the steepest value decline of any large-format category this quarter, led by a pullback in its largest market, the United States, and by sharper unit declines among the segment’s higher-priced technical vendors.
• Label & packaging printers again accounted for a small fraction of worldwide unit shipments in Q2 2026 but represented a disproportionately large total worldwide shipment value, reflecting the continued premium pricing of digital label presses and flexible-packaging platforms. HP alone accounted for more than a third of segment value. Even so, segment value declined YoY and QoQ, suggesting this premium segment was not fully insulated from the broader softening in worldwide demand this quarter.
• Industrial textile China remains the largest market for the segment but shipments declined due to China’s slowing economy plus the tariff-driven loss of textile/apparel export orders to Southeast and South Asia. Effects on the export-order pipeline that Chinese textile factories rely on affects industrial textile printing equipment which capacity investment is tied to this same pipeline.
• Direct-to-garment (DGT)  shipment value fell sharply in Q2 2026, as the technology is continuously being replaced with Direct-to-film (DTF) printers which can be used on a variety of materials compared to DTG.
• Direct-to-shape (DTS) shipment value leadership moved to the United States in Q2 2026, narrowly ahead of APeJC and Western Europe. Japan’s share of direct-to-shape value fell sharply in Q2 2026, even as Mimaki continued to command the majority of Japan’s segment value.
• Desktop label printers again represented the second-highest unit share of any product category in Q2 2026. Western Europe led the segment in value, ahead of the United States. Looking ahead, the desktop label segment retains growth potential as more midmarket businesses invest in in-house label production, driven by labeling compliance requirements, onshoring of label production, and improvements in entry-level inkjet label hardware that continue to reduce the cost and complexity of ownership.

Regional Dynamics for Q2 2026

Worldwide industrial printer shipment value declined in eight of nine regions in Q2 2026, both YoY and QoQ. A broad pullback consistent with softer economic conditions rather than typical quarter-to-quarter variation. China led all regions in value in graphics, industrial textile, and label & packaging, the United States led in CAD, direct-to-garment, and direct-to-shape, while Western Europe led in desktop label. Central & Eastern Europe was highly driven by high-value digital label press deployment in label & packaging. At the other end of the range, Canada, Latin America, and Japan, driven partly by the decline in direct-to-shape posted the steepest regional decline.