By 2018, digital
printing will equal 50% of the global offset sector, and be higher in the more
mature print regions, according to a new study from Smithers Pira titled, The
Future of Offset vs Digital Printing to 2018.
In 2008, digital accounted for a little under 18.5% of the offset market in
value terms. Continuing falls in run length is the key reason for the
adoption of digital technology by many offset companies, together with the
recent improvements in digital print technology.
Key findings:
Digital's share of the total print market will
grow from 9.8% in 2008 to 20.6% in 2018, led by inkjet technology where
improvements in productivity and reliability are making digital printing more
cost effective over higher runs.By 2018, the digital printing market will grow from $131.5 billion in 2013 to $187.7 billion -- a compound annual growth rate of 7.4%.
The global volume of all offset prints will fall by 10.2% between 2008 and 2018, while digital print volume is forecast to grow by 68.1%.
