FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2005

New Report Offers Stock Images Market Sizing For Creative, Internet, Publishing, And Graphic Arts Markets

NEW YORK - TrendWatch Graphic Arts today released the first comprehensive market sizing report for the stock image industry. Based on independent surveys to the creative, Internet, publishing, and graphic arts markets, the report offers stock image market sizing numbers, both in terms of units and dollar figures, for royalty-free and rights-managed images and CD collections in these four key markets and their sub-segments.

With response rates averaging from 18-22%, TrendWatch GA surveys provide a strong, reliable base of information on which to build these estimates. Both mean and median numbers are provided.

Notes Heidi Tolliver-Nigro, TrendWatch GA analyst and author of the report, "With so few sources of public information, trying to get a handle on the size of the stock image industry is a seemingly impossible task. The only way to produce truly reliable estimates is to go directly to the users of stock imagery themselves. By asking users how many royalty-free and rights-managed images and CD collections they purchase and how much they spend on them, we were able to create the industry's first comprehensive market estimates that go beyond the data from - and estimates of - the major players."

In addition to providing much sought-after market totals, the report has some surprises in store. Among them is the strength and size of the graphic arts market as a purchaser of stock images. While it is common knowledge that many printers are adding graphic design capabilities, just how many stock images they purchase, and how much they spend, was not previously known. In this study, we find that, in some categories, graphic arts firms actually outspend their creative and publishing counterparts.

The big winner in these data are Internet design and development firms, whose purchases dominate the industry. But while these firms consistently hold the highest market share, both in terms of dollars spent and units purchased, their average spending per image was often lower than that for other segments, particularly creatives. These dynamics can have strong implications for producers and marketers of stock imagery.

In addition to providing market sizing numbers, the report also looks at purchasers' attitudes towards choosing a supplier of stock images. It asks how many stock image houses they prefer to purchase from and what the most important factors are in choosing a supplier. Many stock image vendors may be surprised to find that factors like the accuracy of image search engines does not have the importance as a differentiator they might have thought.

News Highlights...

• 69% of graphic arts firms use between two and four stock image houses; only 3% purchase from five or more;
• 81% of creatives purchase their stock images from between two and four stock image houses; 8% single-source from a single agency;
• Only 13% of creatives cited "accuracy of search engine" as an important factor when choosing a stock image house;
• 75% of publishers use between two and four stock image houses; 14% single-source from a single agency;
• 48% of Internet design and development firms single-source their stock images.
• 70% of Internet design and development firms see "price of images" as the most important factor when choosing a stock image house.