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When electronic formats hit the market, print was questioned. Some even predicted its death. Very soon, we all realized of the strong relevance and the unique value of print. This could be compared to when contact lenses were developed and becoming popular; many were asking if the prescription glasses market be killed. Of course, that didn’t happen and we even have reached a point where people with perfect 20/20 vision are wearing glasses as a fashion statement rather than due to medical need. Now while print may not be a fashionable product as such, it does enable very effective communication that connects people very well and can be sentimental.
There are two non-marketing printing applications that (if anything) are becoming more on demand. We at Keypoint Intelligence have been researching the effects of book and photo printing for years, and we are currently looking at releasing another report soon. While I can’t give away all that we’ve discovered here about our global study, I can share some key points regarding what we’ve found.
Books
When we asked book printers about what keeps them awake at night, it is not surprising that competition is a key factor (as it is in any other industry). More than competition, we heard about staff shortages and retention issues that seem to plague many industries. Interestingly, in some cases, concerns of competition also play a part in labor concerns as some larger printers are offering better paid rates to competitive operators. Skilled operators are of great importance and more likely to be linked to offset presses, to the point that some book printers might be considering acquiring another printer not just because of the technology or customer databases they can bring but to gain these sought after employees.
Another very common concern in any industry is the economy; book printers are not an exception. Even though the pandemic crisis seems to be over, we still heard concerns from our study respondents about the supply chain (including high price of raw materials).. There were also a few printers that went straight to the core, which is not so much a concern about people reading a book on an electronic format vs. paper but more about book readers shifting to other types of entertainment, such as watching movies or TV shows.
There isn’t a doubt that the big trend for paper books is digital printing, which strongly links to market demand of e-commerce and print on demand, as Digital print allows book printers to produce quantities of as low as one book, reducing waste and improving cash flow for publishers.
Photo
Photographs are powerful because they can preserve memories. The photo market has been transitioning to an electronic format even stronger than books. And even though there is a huge gap between the number of photos kept in our devises and shared electronically to the number of photos being output on paper, the look, touch, and feel of the photograph on paper can’t compare with anything else.
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As we did with book printers, Keypoint recently interviewed some large photo print service providers in search of insight about the current market. The photo print industry faces monumental changes in technology and potential shifts from analog (AgX/silver halide) to digital printing. This is important as digital printing could be more productive than analog and have fewer challenges with the supply chain. Additionally, the transition from the traditional photographic items (prints) to a larger base of products that can be personalized (e.g., photo albums, mugs, puzzles, posters) might also be favoring digital printing.. Last, but not least, the analog process is more chemical-based, which can be a detriment to a society that is more concerned about sustainable printing and “green” initiatives.
When it comes to threats in the photo market, the smaller print service providers worry about competing with the larger ones on price while trying to offer additional value around customized services. The larger print service providers worry more about supply chain issues. When it comes to opportunities, the impact of AI in the photo market by making the curation of images better and easier for customers stuck out.
Keypoint Intelligence Opinion
The print market will not be the same without digital print. It provides a unique and great value to all sorts of applications—especially to books and photographs. e-Commerce is a big sales driver and print on demand is imperative to reduce inventories, eliminate waste, and improve cash flows in the case of books. When it comes to photographs, everything is 100% on demand—offering shorter runs and full customization to a person or a group. Electronic formats can’t ever fully replace ink/toner on paper when it comes to books and photographs, contributing very strongly to the sustainability of print.
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