Report: Pace of Commercial Printing Industry Decline Slowing

Decreasing sales volumes and downward pressure on unit selling prices have also hampered industry profit during the past five years. Printing requires substantial capital investment in new technology to remain competitive in times of excess capacity. Since there have not been enough customer orders, overcapacity has contributed to the long-term trend of industry consolidation. In the five years to 2014, the number of commercial printing companies is expected to fall at an average annual rate of 3.2 percent to 22,946 firms.