WTiN Completes Digital Textile Market Tracker Expansion
WTiN has completed an 18-month expansion of its Digital Textile Market Tracker, a programme that began in early 2025. The latest update adds ink and sublimation transfer paper consumption data to its existing installed base and printed output figures.
Expanded Data and Industry Partnerships
Over the past 18 months, WTiN has expanded its data collection through original research and new partnerships with printer manufacturers, particularly in China. As new information became available, WTiN rebalanced the dataset to incorporate the additional data. Consequently, some figures changed more significantly than expected between updates.
Sales data from original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners forms the foundation of the tracker. WTiN anonymises and aggregates this data before use to protect individual partners’ figures. Modelling supports the process by filling gaps that partner data does not cover. The first-half 2026 release completes this phase of the work.
With a broader base of partner data now available, WTiN expects future updates to remain more stable and require fewer rebalances.
Ink and Transfer Paper Data Added
For the first time, the tracker covers ink and sublimation transfer paper consumption. It categorises ink by chemistry, including sublimation, reactive, acid, disperse and pigment. Users can also analyse ink data by region, country and application.
Transfer paper data is classified by weight, coating and tackiness, as well as region and country. These additions give users a more integrated view of the digital textile printing market.
Previously, WTiN compiled ink and paper figures through separate annual reviews, independently of its machine data. As a result, the figures did not always align. Now, both datasets use the same installed base and printed output data as the rest of the tracker, creating a more consistent market view.
For example, an ink supplier analysing sportswear applications in Turkey can now use the same underlying data framework as the printer market figures for that country.
Historical Application Trends and Revised Figures
The tracker now also shows how the market share of fashion, sportswear, interiors and soft signage has changed over time, with historical data extending back to 2015. These figures highlight shifts in application demand. For instance, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is visible in the decline of soft signage and the growth of interiors.
Integrating ink consumption into the same framework has also led WTiN to revise its ink consumption figures for 2021 to 2025. The updated volumes for 2022 to 2024 are between 2% and 9% lower than previously published figures, reflecting revised ink laydown estimates.
WTiN will publish its latest ink, transfer paper and half-year market reviews throughout October and November. These reviews will explain the changes in greater detail and include updated forecasts.
WTiN Completes Major Data Update
“It’s been a busy 18 months,” said Joseph Link, lead market analyst and senior editor, digital textiles, at WTiN. “The new data we have obtained has meant revisiting the numbers more often than any of us would like. This update finishes that job. Ink and paper now sit on the same foundation as the printer data, and we expect things to be much more settled from here.”
Joseph Link will demonstrate the Digital Textile Market Tracker during a free-to-attend webinar hosted by WTiN. Interested participants can register for the session through WTiN.
The latest data is now available to members through the Digital Textile Market Tracker. Non-members can request a briefing or sample data by contacting the Growth Team at sales@wtin.com.
