Xaar is now in shape to grow says CEO John Mills on the release of results for 2021 that show a leap in revenue and a return to profitability.
Overall sales rose by 23% to £58.3 million (£48.0 million) with £40.1 million coming from printhead sales, its core business. The Cambridge company last year launched Irix and Nitrox as the first two implementations of the ImageX printhead family that will power Xaar for the next two decades. These are printhead able to fire high viscosity fluids, or larger volumes of inks and fluids.
Next up is a head able to fire aqueous fluids, a crucial requirement for packaging and textiles and increasingly for markets like ceramics where sustainability is coming to the fore. This is currently on a four-five month beta testing programme with the full availability due by the end of the year.
“Water based heads will open new markets for us,” says Mills, “because high viscosity water based inks are a game changer. They need less energy for drying and address applications that low viscosity inks and heads cannot. And the need to dry water limits the speed of printing.”
The company identifies the packaging and textile sectors as worth £100 million combined and where it has zero existing presence, yet thanks to the forthcoming development, describes this as a four-star opportunity. The large format graphics and labels market is another with minimal presence and this is valued at £500 million.
The ceramics market, once the jewel in Xaar’s crown, and where it still has a 10% share of a £100 million market, is coming back for the business. The 3D and advanced materials sector is worth £50 million is growing fast, with Xaar having a 5% share currently. It is also active in the mature coding and direct to shape market, through pad printing as much as inkjet. Xaar has a 10% share of a £100 million sector.
Beyond the aqueous development comes an ultra high speed print head that is on the roadmap for launch in the first part of 2024, in time for the planned Drupa. This will enable Xaar to tackle large format graphics and labels in a way that matches thin film piezo printheads in terms of speed and resolution.
However, machines that can be purchased will be a further one to four years behind the availability of new heads as OEM partners will need to implement the technology, test it and bring it to market. Thus the revenues for Xaar, dependent on printhead sales, will lag.
Already last year 12 new Xaar powered products hit the market with a further 24 in development. This year the company anticipates that 15 products will be launched and that 53 will be in development. It does not identify the markets these machines will address.
It is building complete inkjet modules to accelerate the process of implementation particularly for those with less expertise at inkjet technology. Thanks to acquisitions it has expertise in ink delivery, in integration through the purchase of FFEI and at electronics with the latest MegnaJet acquisition in the current financial year.
It does not and will not own an ink company. Instead it is working with an unnamed partner to create the high viscosity water based ink that is going to be needed.
