Orlando, FL – “To say that the hard copy industry is in a state of transformation may be too mild—it is in upheaval,” says Charles LeCompte, Photizo analyst and director of Photizo’s new Digital Workflow Transformation Advisory Service (DWTAS). The state of upheaval began with the great recession, which started at the end of 2008. At that point, the decades of steady growth in the industry were brought to a halt, and hard copy revenue at most companies fell between 25 and 35 percent during the recession. “It has been the industry’s recovery, or non-recovery, that has been the rude surprise,” says LeCompte. “In the past three years, even at the most prosperous hard copy company, revenue remains far below the pre-recession peak.”
A range of factors have played a role in the industry’s woes, from the series of natural disasters in 2011 to the strong yen and the spread of managed print services, which have driven organizational imaging costs down by 25 to 30 percent. But beyond the stress of natural disasters and impact of managed print services lurks a bigger fear: that the post-recession plateau in printing is the beginning of an inexorable decline in printing, driven by a permanent shift in how people use high technology. In particular, the advent of Apple’s iPad in 2010 sent a shiver of fear down the industry’s spine. Tablets have proven immensely popular and seem well positioned to displace print.
For decades, there have been predictions of a “paperless office,” none of which came true, but the iPad makes the paperless office a much likelier prospect. In retrospect, it is clear that the barrier that kept the paperless office from becoming a reality was the lumbering PC, which was so slow, heavy, and clunky to use that printing really was a superior document-viewing option, even though that choice cost customers $160 billion per year.
Anecdotal evidence supports the printer industry’s fears. For example, one insurance company gave all of its executives iPads, and the result was a 25 or 30 percent drop in the page volumes printed by the executives. We have heard many other similar stories. Even with 80 million or so iPads out there, it is not likely that the Apple device has had much impact on total print volumes yet, especially print volumes in office environments, where the iPad and other tablet devices are just now gaining traction.
It is now clear to most people in the hard copy industry that a mighty storm is building, and it is high time to start figuring out how to survive it. Many printer companies are already moving to protect themselves by diversifying into other industries. Pure common sense suggests that it will not be easy for the hard copy industry to replace $160 billion in highly profitable revenue. Historically, companies in a dying or “disrupted” market seldom successfully leap into new markets.
“Here at Photizo, we plan to watch and measure the industry’s transformation—or non-transformation, as the case may be—very closely,” says LeCompte. Photizo has just launched a new service, the Digital Workflow Transformation Advisory Service, which has a two-fold mission: to keep a close eye on existing hard copy firms and track their evolution while scanning the horizon for new firms, technologies, and markets that offer the industry a path for growth.
About the Digital Workflow Transformation Advisory Service
Photizo’s new service examines the transformation of workflow and provides clients with analysis regarding the shifting imaging and information market. A comprehensive guide to future opportunities, the Digital Workflow Transformation Advisory Service provides a critical window into the drivers and impediments to change, how competitors are reacting to or even driving this change, and what it means to the imaging market.
Leveraging Photizo’s team of expert analysts, the service addresses topics regarding hardware, supplies, and services. Bimonthly reports, an annual forecast, and briefings will examine issues such as the mobile worker, mobile print, the consumerization of IT, emerging technologies that are impacting content, new market entrants, and strategies for capitalizing on industry change.
Photizo will host a complimentary Webinar discussing “The Future of Print in a Digital World” on Thursday, May 31 at 1:30 p.m. EST. Register at: https://photizogroupwebinars.w....php?t=a&d=669258860
To learn more about this service, visit http://www.photizogroup.com/DWTAS.
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About Photizo Group
A leading transformation firm, Photizo Group assists clients in transforming their businesses from product-centric companies to services-centric companies. We provide our clients with innovative and practical market intelligence, consulting, and education services based upon our deep industry insight and objective analysis. Photizo is a trusted advisor and provides clients as well as the entire imaging market with visionary guidance to help make successful business decisions. http://www.photizogroup.com.
Media Contact
Misty Gonzalez
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859.846.9830 ext. 109
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