FESPA has completed its first World Wide Survey, a research initiative among the global digital wide format print community. The web-based research was conducted in partnership with InfoTrends, a graphic arts industry research and consulting firm, and gathered data from more than 340 respondents in more than 50 countries. This survey significantly increases the scope and territorial reach of the research compared to FESPA’s previous Wide Survey, conducted in 2007 and provides insight on market changes.
FESPA’s World Wide Survey gives print service providers data on issues such as operations, investment plans, marketing and sustainability to help them better understand the wide-format graphics market business outlook. The findings provide printers with important facts and figures on industry best practice, applications, consumables, new equipment expenditure, digital penetration, environmental initiatives and regulations.
Highlights of the World Wide Survey include:
• The worldwide market for printed graphics is worth more than 58 billion euros.
• Quality still dominates the list of customer demands at 49%, followed by price (24%), turnaround (12%) and new ideas (10%).
• Digital output represents an average 39% of revenue now, with expectations for that figure to reach 50% within two years.
• 50% of respondents plan to invest in new wide format digital printing hardware in the next 12 months, with newer or better functionality the biggest driver for investment (50%). 40% of expected hardware investments will be in UV-curable inkjet.
• 84% of respondents cite output quality as the dominant factor in their choice of printer, followed by reliability (58%), running cost (58%), speed (46%), and substrate range (33%).
• 40% of respondents report a negative impact on their business from live media and LCD advertising systems, but this figure is lower than FESPA’s previous Wide Survey. 43% of respondents are developing plans to participate in this market opportunity.
• 73% of respondents are primarily reliant on FESPA exhibitions to hear about new industry developments.
• Optimism remains high, with printers scoring an average 7.5 out of a possible 10 on their optimism for the future of their business.