In its second study titled ŒThe Future of Print‚ (the first was conducted three years ago) Pira predicted some surprising and not so surprising results.

There will be a ten per cent increase in digital print between 2003 and 2013, according to the organisation. It also predicted that inkjet, rather than toner-based processes, will come to dominate the digital sector.

In offset, Pira says most of the efficiency and automation gains had already been squeezed out of the process and development had slowed.

Mike Hancock, Pira director, says, “In general, press design has not moved on a great deal in the past three years, and that has been born out at drupa”.

While print’s share of the media pie will reduce, total expenditure on print will rise over the same ten-year period. Interestingly, Hancock points out, the historical link between GDP growth and advertising growth has been broken in the last few years, and shows no sign of recovering.

While Pira traditionally is a European-focused organisation, Hancock singles out China for special attention, describing it as the new superpower and saying that it was not a case of if, but when it would become the world’s economy.

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