Printer Consolidations Expected to Continue

"Acquiring another company" was down slightly as a sales opportunity as seen among survey respondents, from 8% to 7%, according to the Spring 2002 TrendWatch Graphic Arts Printing 15 survey. As an opportunity to generate sales, acquisition generally has been flat for the past couple of years, having peaked in Spring 2000 at 10% of all print businesses participating in the study.

On the other hand, "selling the business" was up as a sales opportunity, from 5% to 7%, and is now at the highest level in the history of the TrendWatch surveys. It should not be surprising that selling should be more desirable than buying in the current business climate among printers.

However, in some cases, it is logical for a shop to acquire another firm that has equipment and capabilities that would complement its own. This especially has been the case within the quick printing market, which has seen its share of consolidations as of late. But there is some sense that this process is more or less in its end stages, as the current trend among quick printers is the opposite of print businesses in general: between the TrendWatch Spring 2000 and Fall 2001 surveys, "selling our business" rose as an opportunity for quick printers, and then dropped sharply in Spring 2002 from a high of 10% to a low of 3%. At the same time, "acquiring another business" rose from 7% to 12% in Spring 2002—an all-time high.

The low "selling" number among quick printers suggests that the shakeout already has taken place, as many companies within this group either have been acquired or have gone out of business on their own accord. The high "acquiring" figure suggests that the survivors are eager to expand, either by snapping up the equipment or the customers of their competitors. Ultimately, in all printing markets, the most successful firms will be either the very large or the very small.