Nearly 40 manufacturers from India and China went to Birmingham to show equipment ranging from coldset web presses to saddlestitchers and Ipex visitors gave it a cautious welcome.

Value for money was the defining characteristic of the Asian kit: without exception, all these machines were at least 25% cheaper than their European and Japanese rivals.

"Printers' margins are being squeezed all the time, and if they can start out by saving some money on their capital costs, that helps," said Graham Moorby, sales director of Printers' Superstore (PSS), UK agent for Chinese press manufacturer Sanxin.

PSS sold the first Sanxin at Ipex last week: the B3 two-colour press will be installed at Warrington Borough Council. "If it hadn't bought the Sanxin, it would have been looking at a secondhand machine," said Moorby.

Chinese firm Beiren was showing its equipment at Ipex for the first time. A coldset newspaper web, a B2 sheetfed press and a die-cutting platen were on its stand.

Sales director Benzhong Zou was frank about the capabilities of the Beiren kit. "Compared with Heidelberg machines, these are not as good the print quality is lower, and the electronics are not as strong," he said. "We are here partly to learn lessons from the European manufacturers about how to do it better."

TPH, India's largest newspaper web manufacturer, is a veteran of five Ipexes, and general manager for marketing Yogesh Kharbanda said that while TPH's Orient presses are a value proposition, they are also well-built and meet a need in the market for a lower-priced single-width single-circumference web.

Prakash Webtech sales manager Om Dutt Sharma, was at Ipex looking for national agents for the Prakash range of sheetfed and web machines. "We will not compete on quality, but on price," he said.