Sales of the press, which launched on the first day of the show, have spanned the globe, from Sussex to Shanghai, with one company, Hong Kong's W.Print, signing HP's biggest sale at Ipex so far.

W.Print, part of the Wing Hung group, signed for two of the new 7500 machines, the first into Asia, as well as an Indigo 5500 press.

David Sakai, managing director of W.Print said the company wanted technology that would resemble offset and help cater for an increase in orders but a decrease in quantities.

In the UK, Pureprint has responded to "fantastic growth" within the company's digital offering by investing in two 7500 digital colour presses.

The East Sussex-based company opted for the pair to complement an existing digital print set-up that includes two HP Indigo 5500 presses.

Mark Handford, chief executive of Pureprint Group, said: "We are actually doing more litho work than before, but the growth of digital has been so great that it now plays a far bigger part of what we do."

Another 7500 machine has gone to Docklands-based Precision Printing to help the company cope with an increase in digital business.

According to managing director Gary Peeling, the company's digital side increased by 40% in 2009 despite the recession.

He said: "We are starting to see a transition of large corporate work into the print-on-demand model. We are looking for any development that will strengthen us in that area."