Printing sector is feeling optimistic about the future

Results from the second drupa Global Trends report show that the printing sector is experiencing sustained recovery from the recession and is looking forward to the future with optimism.

The survey of more than 1,100 international decision makers from the print industry and their suppliers was conducted in October last year and the results are largely identical to the first drupa Global Trends report from February last year.

Headline results:

• The question ‘how do you see the outlook for the coming 12 months?’ was answered by 48% of service providers with expectations of improvement, only 7% answered with a decline. While 51% of those from the worldwide supplier industry answered positively, 8% answered with a decline.
• Sales for print service providers continue to rise, with 39% of respondents reporting a rise and 22% showing a drop in sales. This positive balance of 17% is a drop from the 27% from the first survey.
• The margins for print service providers continue to fall, with 43% reporting falling margins and just 16% succeeding in increasing margins.
• Digital print is growing fast, but is still a small percentage of turnover for most printers. Only 10% of printers surveyed said digital printing made up more than 25% of their 2014 sales. In 2013 this figure was 8%.
• Print service providers are not turning to services outside the print sector which are often recognised as new areas of business. Just 27% of print providers achieve more than 10% of their sales with services outside the print sector.

Chairman of the Messe Düsseldorf management board, Werner Matthias Dornschiedt, said: “The generally upbeat picture reported by the expert panel surprised us.

“Both the print service providers and the international supplier industry gave a positive evaluation of the economic situation of their own companies as at October 2014. Even more surprising, however, was that the print and supplier industry is heading into 2015 with a very positive outlook.”