At the recent IMI Ink Jet Conference, held in Barcelona, Spain, Stewart Partridge of Web Consulting provided these bullet points on Chinese markets and opportunities:
–China has the world's largest outdoor-advertising industry, with more than 1 million billboard sites (three to four times more than the US).
–The wide- and grand-format market in China will be bigger and more dynamic than in any other country. “It will also become the most competitive, and some major new global manufacturers of media, printers, and software will arise,” Partridge projects.
–As the sheer size of the Chinese market affects regional and global pricing, expect increased competition, especially on machines, and reduced margins.
–China also represents a market of opportunity”?particularly for OEM partnerships. At SGIA, many OEMs expanded and added value to their product ranges by sourcing printers from China.
–The low profitability of the domestic market for Chinese printer companies has provoked a shift in attitude. Leading Chinese manufactures are now learning to sell on quality and reliability, rather than simply on price. Some are also beginning to realize that the grand- and wide-format graphics market is overcrowded, and that not all existing players will survive. Several grand-format printer companies in China have already liquidated. (IMI: www.imi.maine.com; Web Consulting: www.webconsulting.co.uk)