How inkjet printhead innovation is driving growth

As brand owners seek more sustainable packaging, faster customization, and shorter production cycles, the inkjet market is expanding rapidly. According to Future Market Report, the Industrial Inkjet Printheads market is projected to reach USD 3,450 million by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 8.9% from 2025 to 2032.

A key driver behind this growth is the technological innovation of printhead manufacturers, who are pushing the boundaries of image quality, speed, and material compatibility.

Advances such as higher dpi resolutions, smaller drop volumes, and improved ink recirculation and temperature control, are enabling finer detail, greater productivity, and the use of a wider variety of inks - including water-based and UV-curable formulations -across diverse substrates.

Among the pioneers shaping this innovation landscape is Konica Minolta, whose inkjet heritage dates back to the 1970s. With over 12,000 inkjet printing patents in Japan alone and an annual R&D investment exceeding USD 571.5 million, Konica Minolta continues to leverage its deep expertise in printhead design, ink chemistry, and system integration to deliver cutting-edge solutions that empower printers to adapt, innovate, and meet new customer expectations.

Its inkjet technology combines chemical capabilities cultivated through the manufacture of films, precision processing technology developed through the manufacture of cameras. Technological advantages in industrial applications include offering a wide selection of viscosities, high-accuracy and high-resolution printing, high productivity and high reliability. Konica Minolta now positions its inkjet business as not just printheads but print‐systems with heads, inks, hardware and software.

Printhead development

All of which have been shaped as it has listened to, and adapted to, customer needs. This has led to printhead innovations that include high-gap ink ejection technology developed to overcome the hurdle in industrial printing of printing on rough or non-planar surfaces or when the printhead cannot be kept extremely close to the media.

Konica Minolta printheads also use a common chassis that enables just the printhead to be replaced without having to review the printer design for different types of ink. It is the result of strategic efforts to commercialize printheads customized to customers’ requests to use specific types of ink.

Innovative design for high quality and flexibility

All Konica Minolta drop on demand printheads deliver high quality and flexibility. Theny ensure reliability for a variety of industrial printing applications ranging from additive manufacturing, ceramics and coding and marking, to label printing, sign and graphics, packaging applications and textiles. They can produce excellent quality results with a wide range of inks including water-based, UV, solvent, oil or ‘functional’ inks such as conductive ink.

They enable:

Excellent jetting reliability, accuracy and long life.
Straightforward integration.
Tough and reliable fluid compatibility.
Availability of different native drop sizes for each printhead series.
Interchangeability for maximum product flexibility.
Print in both binary and greyscale modes.

Evolution drives application expansion

Printhead evolution continues to focus on higher resolution and faster printing. Various types of inks are being developed, including water-based ink, solvent-based ink, UV ink which solidifies when exposed to UV rays, and dry process ink, for different printing materials.

The combination of printhead, ink, and printer technologies, supports the expanding scope of applications to commercial printing and flexible packaging as well as industrial usage. It empowers continuing innovation to respond to the challenges customers face.

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