At the end of last week industry speculation that Xerox was not going to participate in the show was confirmed to Printweek by the manufacturer, who said it had “decided to not exhibit”.

Xerox had been included on the initial hall plan with a substantial presence in hall 8b, next to Konica Minolta and in the same hall as Fujifilm, which is currently located at the base of the hall.

In a response received by Printweek today (26 September) to a request for comment, Sabine Geldermann, director of Drupa and Portfolio Print Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf, said: “Xerox has decided to cancel its participation in Drupa for next year. This is a decision we regret very much.

“However, some of the space previously occupied by Xerox has already been taken, and we are very confident that we will be able to reallocate this much sought-after spot in the near future.

“Drupa 2024 will be a successful and relevant platform for the global industry due to the participation of key players and technology leaders, the impressive product range and the high level of internationality.”

One of the big blocks previously allocated to Xerox in hall 8b has now been taken by Chinese manufacturer Han Glory, which was previously listed as exhibiting in hall 14. The other block has been split into four spaces which for now remain grey – or currently unallocated.

The hall plan for Drupa 2024 was released on the show’s website earlier this month but is updated as new names are added or as companies change their positions. On Friday (22 September), 1,149 companies were listed on Drupa’s exhibitor section, but this had risen to 1,157 at the time of writing today.

Drupa will run at Messe Düsseldorf from Tuesday 28 May to Friday 7 June 2024 and the largest stand areas have been booked by HP and Koenig & Bauer.

More information on the show is available at: drupa.com.