FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chinese Wide Format OEMs Capture Internal Market

Hanover, MA…October 10, 2003… China, which emerged as a significant market for established wide format and super wide format OEMs, has within two years become a domestically-produced wide format market and significantly reduced the opportunities for established Western and Japanese manufacturers. In 1998, 90% of the printers were imported; today it is less than 10%. As might be expected in any emerging market, the picture has been one of high demand but now the hardware market is saturated. Hardware prices are falling and output is incredibly cheap. Machines that Western manufacturers sold for $150,000 a few years ago were copied by the Chinese OEMs and sold for $70,000. Today they may sell for as little as $15,000!

According to Liz Ziepniewski, consultant at I. T. Strategies, these companies have very similar product lines and strategies. “International distribution is critical to these companies. With the internal Chinese market saturated, growth will come from outside China. We expect penetration in countries such as Brazil, Russia and India where solvent emission controls are more lax, quality standards are lower and price plays the ultimate importance. US and European markets will be slower to adopt due to higher quality standards. Chinese OEMs recognize the quality issue and many are in the process of developing higher quality printers to target these areas.

They are also developing new products such as flatbed printers and looking to new market areas such as ink jet textile printing. The question is, will they succeed, with their lack of distribution, lower quality products and unproven reliability?

Or will price be the ultimate driver, a built in reliability through obsolescence since print providers can purchase 3 or 4 Chinese printers for the price of one Vutek or Nur printer?”

I.T. Strategies, Inc. is an established research and consultancy firm dedicated to serving companies in emerging digital printing markets.

The company delivers intelligent data, analysis, strategy, and implementation practices to vendors in the digital printing industry around the world. From offices in Boston and Tokyo, I.T. Strategies conducts and delivers research data, offers interpretation and advice, identifies specific opportunities, and helps organizations implement these strategies to achieve effective solutions.

I.T. Strategies
51 Mill St, Suite 2
Hanover, MA 02339
Phone: 781-826-0200
Fax: 781 826 0151
E-Mail: infocntr@it-strategies.com
Website URL: www.it-strategies.com