How booming is the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region!!!

【Summary】The screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region has been booming in recent years. Not only are large and small factories adding equipment, but the second-hand market has also been thriving. Just think about it: the Pearl River Delta is home to clusters of electronics factories, toy factories, and packaging factories. Whether it’s phone cases, circuit boards, toy shells, or gift boxes, almost all of them need screen printing machines to print patterns and logos. So, whether it’s new machines or refurbished ones, they never lack buyers in the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region. Now, factories have higher requirements for equipment—from "as long as it works" to "high efficiency, low error rate, and material-saving". The popularity of the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region shows no sign of fading! Let’s talk about it in detail.

1. How booming is the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region?

You might not believe it, but the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region has been growing by 8%-10% every year in recent years. Take 2024 as an example; the sales volume of fully automatic screen printing machines alone was nearly 9% higher than the previous year. Why is it so booming? Mainly because the electronics industry is extremely dense—like in the electronic industrial parks around Bao’an District in Shenzhen and Chang’an Town in Dongguan, millions of parts such as mobile phone middle frames and smart watch shells need to be printed by screen printing machines every day. In addition, the packaging industry has a huge demand for printing gift boxes and cosmetic bottle bodies in the Pearl River Delta. A medium-sized packaging factory needs to add at least 3-4 screen printing machines a year to keep up with orders.

Industry insiders estimate that at this rate, by 2026, the scale of the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region will expand by another 40% compared to now, reaching approximately 350 million US dollars. Among them, two types are the most popular: one is high-speed fully automatic screen printing machines. Because factories in the Pearl River Delta pursue "non-stop operation", this type of machine can print more than 2,000 pieces per hour, with annual sales growth of 13%. The other is precision screen printing machines, which are specially used to print fine lines on circuit boards with a precision of 0.005 mm. Now, almost all electronics factories have switched to this type. In the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region, 2 out of every 5 new machines sold are precision models.

2. What types of screen printing machines are there in the Pearl River Delta, and what are they mainly used for?

2.1 High-speed flatbed screen printing machines

They are specially used to print on flat hard shells and plates, such as mobile phone back covers and laptop shells. In the electronics factory clusters in Longhua District, Shenzhen, there are more than 800 such machines, which can print over 300,000 phone cases every day. Furniture factories in Foshan also like to use them to print wood grain decorative panels. For example, a large furniture enterprise has 40 flatbed screen printing machines in its workshop, capable of printing 20,000 decorative panels a day.

2.2 Multi-station screen printing machines

They can print multiple surfaces at the same time, which is essential for objects with edges and corners like toy cars and plastic packaging boxes. In the toy industrial park in Changping Town, Dongguan, 80% of toy shells are printed by this type of machine. In 2024, more than 150 such machines were added. Many factories said, "We used to change machines 3 times to print one toy, but now one multi-station machine can handle it all."

2.3 UV curing screen printing machines

They can dry the printed items immediately after printing, making them particularly suitable for printing food packaging and children’s products, as the colors won’t rub off easily. Almost all snack packaging manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta use this type of machine. For example, a biscuit packaging factory in Zhongshan uses 10 UV curing screen printing machines, which can print 80,000 packaging bags a day—more than twice as fast as traditional machines. Now, the proportion of this type of machine in the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region is increasing year by year, and it is expected to account for 30% by 2025.

3. Which enterprises are active in the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region?

Seeing how large the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region is, both local manufacturers and foreign brands are competing for a share. The top-performing companies account for about 50% of the local market share. They not only sell new machines but also offer rental and refurbishment services, with comprehensive services.

Their machines range from cheap to expensive: manual screen printing machines for small workshops cost a few thousand yuan each, with nearly 5,000 units sold in 2024. High-end fully automatic screen printing machines for large factories cost over one million yuan each, but they can run continuously for 30 days without stopping. In 2024, more than 600 units were sold just in Dongguan. Moreover, these enterprises understand the rhythm of the Pearl River Delta very well—their after-sales response is faster than express delivery. If a machine breaks down, maintenance personnel will arrive within 1 hour for factories in Shenzhen and Dongguan, and within 2 hours for those in Guangzhou and Foshan. Factory owners all think this is "exactly what they need".

To meet local needs, they have also specially modified the machines: for example, reducing the noise of high-speed screen printing machines by 40% to meet the environmental protection requirements of factories near residential areas; adding a code-scanning template change function to the machines, so workers can scan a code to change models without stopping to adjust parameters. Because of these, now 9 out of 10 factories in the Pearl River Delta will first inquire about the products of these enterprises when buying screen printing machines. After all, in the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region, "being down-to-earth" is more important than anything else.

Summary

The more competitive the manufacturing industry in the Pearl River Delta becomes, the more prosperous the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region will be. Now, competition is no longer just about who has cheaper machines, but more about whose equipment can keep up with the demands of "fast pace and high precision". Enterprises that can keep up with the orders of electronics factories and packaging factories and adjust their machines at any time will surely gain a firm foothold in the screen printing machine market in the Pearl River Delta region. In general, this market will continue to grow in the next few years. Those who want to get a share of the pie must hurry up!