The fatal temptation of inkjet printing technology

Editor's note: Recently, the printing expert Flippin investigated the influence of the recent inkjet printing technology and predicted its future development trend. Below, let us walk into his investigation report.

When I was a little boy, my grandfather taught me how to fish in a river in southeastern Pennsylvania. Many years later, I learned how to tie my fly. I must admit that my intelligence should be used in other ways. But I know that for the fish in the water, it only looks more natural if it is tied to the fly and then let it move on the surface of the water.

Similarly, for those of us who analyze market and technology trends, it is very important to provide specific market groups with available and meaningful data and analysis data. First, there are several types of companies involved in the investigation of various parts of the printing market. They are manufacturers, publishers, printers and print buyers. And each group has a series of special needs. Leaving aside their position in the market, every manufacturer wants to know what they should do to maintain a competitive advantage in the market. At present, their concerns are focused on inkjet printing technology.

You may have heard that inkjet printing will replace analog printing in many areas. This is indeed the case. For example, the sales volume of the US wide-format inkjet printing market has reached 6 billion U.S. dollars, and this market will continue to maintain its momentum of growth in quantity and price. This growth momentum has attracted more manufacturers to participate in the competition, resulting in a continuous increase in profit pressure, and for printers, they must immediately make strategic decisions.

In many printing plants, inkjet technology does play a complementary role in the traditional printing technology. In other printing companies, the role of inkjet technology is far less than people expected. If we look at the field of screen printing, we will find that technological advances have enabled people to use inkjet technology to produce a large number of jobs, so it can now compete with screen printing companies in the short-lived field. At the same time, direct platemaking technology has effectively shortened the cycle time of offset lithography. This forces screen printers to first analyze their own business models when deciding which technologies to invest in next.

The development and progress of inkjet and other technologies does not mean that screen printing will completely disappear. For example, although the quality of UV ink jet printing products will reach or even exceed the level of UV screen printing, this does not mean that UV screen printing will completely disappear. The fact is that when mature technologies face the challenge of new technologies, their position in the market will change. For these mature technology users, maintaining a competitive advantage in the future will become very important.

We can clearly see this from a survey of users of wide-format ink-jet printing products published in the June 2005 Consultation Network, and many printers have started to do this. Due to the emergence of digital printing and some changes in the market, the business model and focus of many printing companies have changed in the past five years. This point I will discuss in the next section, of course not all printers have undergone such changes.

How to determine the business route?

In the past, the printing market distinguished the currently used technologies (for example, screen printing, lithography) from some previously used technologies (for example, electrophotography, photocopying, etc.). Today, ten years after the wide-format ink-jet technology appeared, this distinction has not been recognized by people. Therefore, we have carried out a new division and analysis. By understanding different types of printers, we have found that not all printers are interested in inkjet printing technology or feel threatened by inkjet printing technology. There is no such kind of psychological comparison between the printing factories.

This makes the printing market more complicated. On the one hand, some printers quickly try and invest in new technologies. On the other hand, some printing companies are almost uninterested in inkjet technology. In a recent market research report, Consulting Network conducted a survey of a group of companies that did not invest in inkjet printing technology. Some of them have misunderstood ink-jet printing. Some people believe that ink-jet printing products cannot be permanently stored or that ink-jet technology cannot be used for outdoor banners. Others stated that the demand for inkjet printing products in the market is not large or that inkjet printing technology is difficult to learn.

The benefits of inkjet printing

Most people are used to pricing prints in terms of how many dollars per square foot. However, the price per square foot inkjet printing product is lower than the analog printing product price. We must analyze the benefits of inkjet printing from another perspective. This is very important.

First, inkjet technology does not offer simple one-on-one replacements like traditional analog printing, or it can be sold like traditional printing. Inkjet has brought special opportunities for people. For example, it can well meet people's need for speed, while inkjet also makes it easier to print the same pattern on different webs.

In addition, with the increasing demand of customers for short-run prints and personalized products, people are more willing to store products on CDs instead of copying or storing them on screens. The cost savings make ink-jet technology more attractive. force.

Will screen printing disappear? of course not. But its position in the market will change. With the continuous recognition of the value of digital printing by printing houses, the position of inkjet printing in the market will continue to be consolidated and strengthened.

Start with strong

What will happen to the future of the US wide-format inkjet printing market? Here are some of my predictions:

In general, inkjet printing will continue to grow and many new applications will be developed. These areas will not maintain a simultaneous growth, some areas will continue to grow under the premise of damage to other technologies, both digital printing and analog printing.

Wide-format water-soluble printers will continue to lose its market share, but this does not mean that such printers will disappear. In fact, water-soluble printers will continue to occupy a certain market share.

Solvent printers will continue to grow.

Flatbed inkjet printers (including UV and solvent types) will consolidate its dominance in the wide-format printing sector and will continue to grow.

Due to the existence of competition, it is not easy to succeed. But printers can gain greater market share by better mastering new technologies, understanding the market environment, and speculating on the future.



Source: China Public Venture Network