New Tech Not a Worry For Printers, Say Data

In the Spring 2001 TrendWatch Printing Survey, study participants were asked how various technologies were perceived as having either negative (threats) or positive (opportunities) effects on printers' businesses. The list included technologies such as direct-to-plate, direct-to-press, digital color printing, Internet-related services, and others (see accompanying charts).

The most telling result garnered from this portion of the survey was that the largest response to the threat question (39%) was "not worried about any of these." In fact, 64% of periodical printers were not worried about what are essentially the most current technological developments in the printing industry.

As for the technologies themselves, direct-to-plate is both the top threat (20% of all printers) as well as the top opportunity (39%). Direct-to-plate's presence at the top of both lists is logical: printers know there's an opportunity with direct-to-plate, but getting up to speed can be daunting.

In terms of printing technologies, direct-to-press printing has become slightly less menacing, as 14% of printers are threatened by it now compared to the 17% that indicated as such in the same study conducted two years ago. On the other side, 14% see direct-to-press as an opportunity now compared to 13% two years ago.

Meanwhile, digital color printing (such as that which comes from Indigo machines) has increased as both a threat (from 13% to 14%) as well as an opportunity (from 12% to 16%).

The second-largest threat is print bidding on the Internet, where a total of 15% of printers see it as a danger zone. In fall 1999, just 4% of printers were threatened by Internet bidding because it was still only a faint blip on printers' collective radar screens, and most everyone was still in a let's-ignore-it-and-hope-it-goes-away mode.

Despite its perception as a threat, unlike direct-to-plate, Internet print bidding is scarcely seen as an opportunity: only 9% of printers see it a chance to increase revenues, down from 16% two years ago. In general, Internet-related services were a lot less threatening in fall 1999 than they are now, probably because few printers thought they ever would have to worry about them.