The major inhibitor to digital colour growth is retail price, said CAP Ventures Charlie Corr, group director of the print market research firm. The cost of digital colour must drop.
The research was carried out as a multi-client project in response to disappointment from digital colour press vendors that print volumes had grown as expected. Results were presented for the first time at a breakfast briefing held at Ipex on Friday (12 April)
If you can reach the right price for digital print, which is currently $0.25 per page, but later will be under $0.10 per page it will lead to a major disruption of the market, said Corr. When the price drops the industry will be transformed.
Its report, which asked print specifiers and printers about their perceptions, found that there was a major difference of opinion between the two about what were the most important issues.
There are old and inaccurate perceptions in printers about where they put jobs, said managing director Charles Pesko. Buyers perceptions are very different.
Colour and quality are not an issue for buyers, said Corr. Theyre willing to sacrifice quality for turnaround time.
Drivers in general business are leading to the migration of jobs to digital colour, including the increasing rate of change, which is leading firms to want smaller volumes of print when they want it where they want it.
There will be a growth in personalisation, but that in itself wont grow the market.
Director of European On Demand Elisabeth Bitsch-Christenen said: Can you do full speed variable data? Yes. Can you make money? No!
Printers need to become service providers who make printed communication she said. Print-on-demand isnt ink on paper.
The development of the market will be led by the implementation of workflow software that simplifies production and cuts administration costs.
Its good to see everyone walking around with happy faces, she said. At Drupa people were puzzled, they couldnt see why everything was going digital. My impression from Ipex is they actually get it.
The next step for equipment manufacturers is customer satisfaction vendors must help them.

Story by Barney Cox