Transition at the Heart of RemaxWorld

This year’s RemaxWorld Expo, held from October 16 to 18 in Zhuhai, China, once again reaffirmed its position as the only remaining trade show dedicated to the global printer and imaging supplies industry.

Veteran industry pioneer Steve Weedon, who founded The Recycler Magazine back in 1992, used to tell me (quite often), “The only thing certain about this industry is change.”

His words ring louder than ever today. If there was one theme that captured the spirit of the 2025 gathering, it was “transition”. The transition of the industry, the technologies, the exhibitors, and the Expo itself was very evident this year.

From Components to Cartridges

When the Expo first opened its doors 19 years ago, it was a very different event. Visitors flocked to find components. Things like OPC drums, toners, inks, chips. And the machines that kept the remanufacturing world running, from ink refilling systems to toner dumping stations. The name Remax, derived from the words “recycle” and “maximum,” perfectly encapsulated the spirit of those times: reuse, remanufacture, and maximize value.

But the market moved. Finished cartridges started appearing, and exhibitors who once focused solely on parts and processes reinvested in producing complete, compatible products. That was one of the first great transitions for the aftermarket. It was a shift not just in what was being sold, but in who was buying and why. Customers no longer wanted only the parts. They wanted the convenience of a ready-to-use, reliable cartridge. And they could buy them cheaper from China than the sum of the remanufactured component alternative.

Surviving the Lawsuits

At the same time, another storm brewed. OEMs unleashed a barrage of intellectual property lawsuits that changed the landscape forever. The aftermarket had to transition yet again. This time into risk-free, IP-respecting products.

The effect was brutal. In the United States alone, the number of aftermarket companies shrank from around 7,000 to fewer than 70 today. Western Europe followed a similar path.

For those that survived, the message was clear: only the strong, innovative, and compliant would endure. And so the Expo itself changed too, moving away from being a showcase of opportunistic products and toward becoming a platform for long-term, legitimate businesses.

The Expo Mirrors the Market

What makes RemaxWorld unique is its ability to evolve in sync with the industry it represents. This year, the exhibition halls reflected yet another transition. The traditional office printing market continues to shrink, but new opportunities are growing fast.

Direct-to-Film (DTF) solutions were everywhere, tapping into the booming custom textile market. Packaging printers highlighted how the sector is embracing on-demand, high-quality graphics. Food printers showed whimsical yet profitable applications (think cappuccinos topped with a customer’s selfie or chocolates stamped with logos). Wide-format printers catered to advertisers and outdoor signage, while handheld devices opened up whole new markets in logistics, retail, and field services.

Even the Expo’s logistics were adapted. Artificial intelligence provided real-time translations of speeches and presentations at the Summit, the award, and the opening ceremonies. In a hall filled with voices from every continent, AI made the message of transition accessible to everyone. It looked like magic. I could listen to Chinese, Japanese, or Spanish-speaking presenters and see the instantaneous translations appear on a large screen right in front of me.

Thought Leaders on Stage

The Summit this year underscored the industry’s crossroads. Deborah Hawkins, a respected analyst with Germany-based Keypoint Intelligence, unpacked the implications of AI for end-users, showing how automation, predictive analytics, and smarter workflows will reshape not just how printers are used, but why they’re used.

But it was Koichi Yoshizuka, a speaker from Japan, who delivered one of the most thought-provoking insights. Japan, long the beating heart of the printer OEM world, is undergoing its own seismic transition. Facing shrinking demand and rising costs, OEMs are consolidating.

I invite Japanese-based Koichi Yoshizuka to the stage to share the transition OEMs are having to face.

The newly formed bloc ETRIA, made up of Ricoh, Toshiba Tec, and OKI, is working to create integrated solutions from a common engine platform. Meanwhile, Fujifilm and Konica Minolta have aligned their supply chains and production resources. Together, these two blocs already command 46% of the global market. Compare that to Canon’s 18% share, or the combined 36% held by HP, Kyocera, and the rest.

Yoshizuka’s message was sobering but clear: there are simply too many OEMs for today’s realities, and consolidation is the only path forward. What happens in Japan won’t stay in Japan. It will ripple across the entire global printing landscape.

The Only Constant

So, what does this all mean for the RemaxWorld Expo itself? Quite simply, it must keep transitioning. Its survival and success are tied to its ability to mirror the industry’s shifts.

It began as the place for recycling and remanufacturing. It evolved into a stage for finished products. It weathered the industry storm of lawsuits and IP challenges. And now it is pivoting to showcase new technologies, new markets, and new applications well beyond the confines of office printing.

For exhibitors, that means constantly rethinking what they bring to Zhuhai. For visitors, it means adjusting their expectations—arriving not just to buy or sell, but to learn, connect, and envision what’s next. And for the organizers, it means creating an environment that encourages innovation and attracts whole new sectors to join the conversation.

What’s striking is that this year’s event wasn’t about nostalgia for what once was, but about excitement for what could be.

In Zhuhai, you could feel that sense of anticipation. Exhibitors were showing not just what they had today, but what they were becoming tomorrow. Attendees weren’t just walking the aisles, they were looking for their next pivot, their own transition that could build their businesses and profits

That’s the true story of RemaxWorld 2025. Not survival, not even growth, but “transition.” The Expo, to thrive, will have to continue to transition, just as its exhibitors and visitors have, and will see new market sectors and whole new audiences attend.

That’s my prediction. Bold. Ongoing and unstoppable.

David Gibbons has 47 years of experience, knowledge and skills in business (management, consultancy, strategic planning) and communication (teaching, event management, fundraising, journalism, broadcasting and new/digital media—social, website, app development). He started and ran a successful cartridge remanufacturing business in Sydney and was also the Executive Officer of the Australasian Cartridge Remanufacturers’ Association for 7 years.

Until 2024, Gibbons has been a director in RT Media in Zhuhai, China, responsible for strategic planning, senior management, event planning, marketing, broadcasting and magazine publishing on behalf of the global imaging supplies industry. He is certainly aware of the challenges of remanufacturing in China.

His other blogs include:

• Can America Still Be Trusted: Global Uncertainty and Trade Tensions
• Winter is Coming for the Imaging Industry
• Call on ETIRA to Reveal More About Non-compliant Cartridges
• How Trade and Debt Contribute to Global Tensions
• Why Right to Repair is Not So Straightforward
• Some Quick Ink Facts I Bet You Never Knew
• Anger Over Exaggerations Lies and Deceit
• Invention—”Doing Our Part in Order to Create a Better Future”
• Einstein: Discovering the Impossible
• The Challenges of Remanufacturing in China
• Can the Chinese Really Deliver What the Rest of Us Want?

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