Hybrid Work Is Reshaping the Home Printer Market, Here's How

A few years ago, plenty of households were happy to go without a printer entirely. Hybrid work has quietly reversed that.

A market that's grown, not shrunk

The global home printer market is valued at roughly US$50.3 billion in 2026, growing at around 4.6% a year through to 2035. Hybrid work is one of the clearest drivers: 58% of households now own at least one multifunction printer, and with over 40% of the global workforce engaged in some form of hybrid or remote work, that's sustaining steady replacement demand rather than the slow decline the category saw in the years before.

What people are actually buying differently

• Wireless is now standard. Over 70% of new home printers sold in 2026 feature wireless and mobile printing, a reflection of how normal it's become to print from a laptop or phone without a cable.
• Ink-tank and refillable systems are growing fast. These now account for more than 55% of unit sales, and can cut cost-per-page by up to 90% compared to traditional cartridge-based printers, a meaningful factor for anyone printing regularly at home.
• Multifunction is the default. Devices that combine printing, scanning and copying now make up close to two-thirds of home printer purchases, reflecting a preference for one compact machine over several single-purpose devices.

What this means if you're buying for a home office in 2026

The cheap single-function inkjet that used to be a common home purchase is a shrinking category. Most people are now choosing a wireless multifunction printer, and increasingly weighing up ink-tank systems specifically because of the running-cost difference over the life of the machine.

That said, whichever printer you land on, the lever that actually controls your ongoing cost is the same one it's always been: what you're paying per page for ink or toner. If you've already got a cartridge-based printer that does everything you need, switching the whole machine to a tank system isn't the only way to bring cost-per-page down, a quality compatible cartridge does the same job without replacing hardware that still works fine.