A Cautionary Tale

As a result, warns Bill McLauchlan, senior technical consultant of web press operations for PIA/GATF, “medium- and large-sized printers will be extremely cautious with their businesses in the coming year. The small-sized printer will find it tough going, due to competition.”

Should the country fall into outright recession, adds Richard Holliday of 3P Inc., offset’s ongoing loss of market share to VDP or masterless digital printing could be further eroded by sheer economics, despite its inherent quality advantages. In the longer term, however, “offset should grow with the economy (in line with) increasing economic freedom and development in overseas markets,” Holliday believes.