The World of Print is Flat Too! — Part Deux
In the October 2006 issue of NPES News, we highlighted the preliminary findings of Phase 1 of the PRIMIR study on the Worldwide Market for Print. Phase 3 of this study is now essentially complete and was presented to the member-ship at the recent NPES Industry Summit. The message from this report is clear. . .if you’re not thinking global, you better begin investigating international markets soon. If you are a global marketer, there may be some markets not currently on your radar screen worth taking a closer look at going forward. In this issue, we will explore the top level global printing market and the market for printing equipment and supplies.
For years, the common belief relating to the world market for print was that the U.S., Europe and Asia each accounted for about a third. As it turns out, that assessment was fairly accu-rate as the report shows that North America accounts for 32 percent, Europe 32 percent, Asia 28 percent and the rest of the world about eight percent of the $610 billion world market. However, going forward to 2011, the report projects that the action is shifting “east” as North America will account for 28 percent, Europe 31 percent, Asia 30 percent and the rest of the world 11 percent of the projected $720 billion world market. It is also important to point out that there are two opposing trends taking place in the European arena as Eastern Europe grows at an impressive 51 percent, while growth in Western Europe over the five-year period is about 12 percent.
Looking at individual country markets, Table 1 shows the top 12 markets on a dollar volume basis in 2006 and 2011. There are really no surprises in this data, other than the fact that China has already displaced Germany and the UK as the third largest print market. However, by 2011, India will rise from the 12th largest mar-ket to number eight. Another of the 12 fastest growing markets are in Asia, headed by India and China, but perhaps more interesting are the opportunities in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, all with growth rates in excess of 50 percent. . .albeit from a smaller base. Another market warranting serious attention is Poland with a growth rate exceeding 50 percent but with a substantial base of $3 billion growing to $4.5 billion by 2011.
What does this all mean for sales of NPES member products? The worldwide market for printing machinery is estimated to be about $23 billion in 2006 and will remain relatively stable through 2011. However, as illustrated in Table 3, the action is shifting from the traditional printing processes of offset, flexo and gravure to electrophotography and ink jet, at least on a percentage growth basis. But, don’t let that fool you as the largest markets on a dollar basis will continue to be for sheet- and webfed offset and flexo presses.
Strong growth in metal CtP plates will bolster the global consumables markets as illustrated in Table 4. Growth in worldwide package printing markets will also result in strong growth in flexo plates. In all, the worldwide consumables market will grow from about $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion by 2011.
Clearly, although the North American market is mature and relatively flat, there are still many significant growth opportunities for NPES members in emerging world markets. In the coming months, we will highlight data from the PRIMIR study on the key countries providing details on their demographics, print market size by segment and the market for equipment and consumables. Stay tuned!
