Not long ago, skeptics were predicting digital era will put an end to the print industry. The concept of paperless offices gave the printer industry sleepless nights as they prepared for the inevitable.
Ironically, digital boom is today providing growth momentum to the printing industry. ?It is the digital boom as well as the internet that is driving the print industry,? says Leong Han Kong, Hewlett-Packard?s vice-president for Asia Pacific and Japan region. ?Sure, people are more selective today. They decide what they want to print. But the numbers of pages that is being printed has gone up phenomenally,? he contends.
In other words, a user may cut, copy and paste text that he accesses from the internet as per his or her needs. Pictures may even be edited or added to suit requirements. But then, the printouts that people take have gone up manifold. It?s the same with photographs. ?Earlier in the analog era, when one went on holidays, all that one clicked was one or two rolls of films. Today, we may click up to 2,000 photos, or whatever your digital camera can accommodate. And while we do selective printing, the print order may easily go up to a couple of hundreds of pictures,? says Han Kong.
Printing industry estimates assert that 53 trillion pages will be printed in 2010 with the printing supplies market in Asia pacific region alone standing at $16 billion.
Another key factor that has facilitated stupendous growth of printing industry is affordable access to colour. From 2003 to present, the industry has witnessed a 677 % increase in colour printer sales with the target essentially being small businesses and individual homes. Breakthroughs in toner, ink and media technologies now allow customers unprecedented colour printing capabilities to produce documents and marketing materials inhouse that are impressive, eye-catching and equivalent to offset printing quality. Technologies like the new dual-drop volume technology brought out by HP enables finely detailed graphics and images, up to 4,800 x 1,200 dpi, without the need for the lighter, photo dye-load inks used in 6-ink printing.
Printing technology providers today have a product portfolio that includes inkjet printers, business inkjets, officejets, laser jets, large format printers, all in ones, digital imaging devises such as scanners, multi functional devices, associated supplies and accessories. ?We don?t believe that one size fits all? says Han Kong.
The same goes for different regions, where printing industry players are catering for specific markets. For instance, HP is still strong in selling plain black cartridges in emerging markets like India and China. The idea was initially conceived to counter the refill market that eats up a significant portion of the printing market. It began by launching its value campaign in India two years ago. Today, HP says that the simple black cartridges are amongst its bestsellers after it commissioned independent studies by research firms, which demonstrated that using original cartridges is cost effective in the long run.
Says Puneet Chaddha, director supplies, HP India. ?HP has long been concerned that ink cartridge buyers in India are not aware of reliability issues when using refilled cartridges. This is why we commissioned the study to reveal the hidden costs, enabling consumers to discover the power of original cartridges?.
The writer?s trip to Singapore was sponsored by Hewlett-Packard