Hong Kong must be the signage capital of the world. It’s everywhere, in every size and
every location, sometimes in clusters so thick that each sign is indistinguishable from the next.
Indeed, it doesn’t look like anyone could go poor selling outdoor ad space in Hong Kong. The tiny nation displays an unquenchable thirst for all things large-format. And nowhere else is the term ‘large-format’ more justified – signs that would be used as roadside hoardings here in Australia adorn almost every skyscraper in the Asian economic powerhouse.
Little wonder then that HP decided to base its Scitex centre for the Asia-Pacific region in the Chinese territory. VS Hariharan, HP’s Asia-Pacific and Japan vice president of Graphic Arts, claimed that “Hong Kong has always been the home of the Scitex business”.
The digital manufacturer recently doubled the size of the centre and opened the doors of the expanded facility to the media in February this year. The centre feels part-showroom, part-museum, with machines such as the FB6100 sitting alongside some of the more creative applications for its printing technology, including bathroom doors printed on flatbed kit.
Zeal for print
Hariharan said the local market’s zeal for large-format was a big driver in the vendor’s decision to base its Scitex centre in Hong Kong. He said all you need to do is walk outside to showcase HP’s large-format results in a live setting. “If I bring people to the centre, I want to be able to take them to a customer site as well.”
One major customer site is Sin Fung, an outdoor advertising company based on the south side of Hong Kong Island. Sin Fung, which lists JCDecaux as one of its major clients, occupies only a few floors in one of Hong Kong’s many skyscrapers. Like most residents of a nation where space is at such a premium, it makes exceptionally good use of its limited real estate.
Over roughly 1,485m2 spread across four floors, the company houses as many as 10 HP Scitex printers, including two TJ8350s and a TJ8550.
Tellingly, and perhaps of some relief to Aussie printers, there is enough to work in Hong Kong alone to keep the firm busy. Sin Fung managing director Wilson Choi said 95% of his work stays in Hong Kong.
It’s a large-format success story that seems to be reflected across the Asia Pacific region. HP Scitex vice president and general manager Yariv Avisar said that HP Scitex’s market share grew by 13% in 2009, “even though it was a difficult year for all of us”.
Avisar also projected that the division would have 30 Scitex installations completed by the end of second quarter of 2010. He added that he expected 60% of these purchases to come from customers making their first foray into digital.
Avisar described the large-format printing market as a “$1.2bn opportunity”, and said the company was capitalising on the move from analogue to digital – which he dubbed the “‘A2D” transition.
“The digital market is still growing, and we are playing a major part in the shift from analogue to digital,” he said.
The outdoor sector does seem to be enjoying a gentler recession than other sectors. Hariharan noted that, all things considered, “2009 was an okay year” for the Scitex business. Indeed, only a week after Hariharan made this claim, local outfit here in Australia, Ooh Media, “bucked the downturn” by posting a $4.9m net profit for 2009.
With electronic technology such as e-readers unlikely to impact large-format printing as much as magazine, book and catalogues, it seems that the large-format sector might be one of the last safe refuges of the traditional print business.
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter