The market’s golden rule of “Demand & Supply” holds good in wide
format printing segment as well. As the demand for low-cost signage
printing is increasing like never-before, the machinery manufacturers
are also busy offering most suitable options.
There is an emerging segment in Indian print buyer’s clan, who are not so
particular about the durability and longevity of the product but need reasonable
quality. They are ready to accept the quality, because they can afford and
as most of the signage are short-lived and required either for events or some
ongoing offers, sale announcements and so on.
With the inflow of large quantum of low-end printers from China and other
neighboring countries on very regular basis, a new thought-process is seen
amongst equipment manufacturers. This is an established phenomenon that
after having reached a
certain level, the thirst of
growth shifts towards
newer targets. In signage
industry also this shift is
being seen significantly.
Now, the industry is all set
to target a new breed of
customers, who want to
enter the industry with low
capital investment. And for
them new entry level
equipment in most of the
categories are being
designed and offered at an
affordable prices. The economically priced inks and substrates in addition to
equipment cost contribute to the lower product pricing.
The recent introduction of DesignJet 5100 printers by HP, offered at less than
Rs 5 lakh and flatbed printers being offered around Rs 40 lakh, are the
testimony towards this.
With the introduction of low-priced printers from reputed companies, the trend
of getting the equipment from not-so-established ones might change its route.
This will in fact bring big volumes for the manufacturers apart from print
service providers, who will be benefitted by the advantages of dealing with
such companies at large. In a country like India, such entry level equipments
can find their place very significantly. The output from these equipments shall
definitely fulfill the requirements of certain segments of end users comfortably.
