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InfoTrends/CAP Ventures Releases Landmark Global Print Production Software Market Study

(Weymouth, MA) January 17, 2005…InfoTrends/CAP Ventures is pleased to announce the release of its highly anticipated landmark study on the print production software market. The study entitled The Global Print Production Workflow Market: Enabling Fundamental Business Change in Graphic Arts sizes the market for software and related services; provides a detailed analysis of service providers’ attitudes, plans, and trends; and forecasts the growth of the market over the next five years.

“The printing industry is undergoing a dramatic transformation on a global basis. We believe that this transformation is well underway, and will take about a decade to conclude,” commented Holly Muscolino, a Director at InfoTrends/CAP Ventures. “We are the first to conduct a study of this magnitude and we are confident that the findings will provide software and solutions vendors with the information necessary to stay on top of their game and succeed in this rapidly evolving market.”

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures expects the global production software market to demonstrate a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.3%, moving from $5.9 billion in 2003 to over $8.8 billion in 2008. North America was the largest geographical market for print production software in 2003, accounting for 46% of all revenues. Western Europe accounted for over one-third of revenues and Japan came in third, accounting for 10% of the market revenues.

The new and evolving category of hybrid offset-digital production workflow management solutions will show the greatest increase, experiencing an extraordinary CAGR of 98% through 2008, albeit from an extremely small base. Placements of production digital printing devices (specifically color devices) in predominantly offset environments and the migration of existing offset, digital, or internally-developed hybrid workflow management software solutions are the key drivers that are contributing to this growth.

Print Production Software Comparative Growth Rates, 2003-2008

Other key growth areas for the market include print-e business software, variable data design and production solutions, and digital production workflow management solutions, representing respective CAGRs of 20%, 16%, and 15%.

Other key findings include:

• While end-users are extremely concerned about ease of integration between products from disparate vendors, they are less interested in the mechanics of how this integration is accomplished (i.e. through JDF).
• The meteoric growth of PDF is clearly evident; over 40% of customer files are now delivered in this format. Despite this move towards PDF, well over 60% of files still require service provider intervention.
• The greatest barriers to adoption of new technology are cost, the fact that current processes are adequate, and a preference to wait for “proven” solutions.

Research for this study consisted of telephone and Web-based surveys of software and solutions vendors as well as print service providers. 408 creative and production end-users in the United States and 169 consumers in Western Europe completed this survey during the fourth quarter of 2004.

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures’ multi-client study is available for purchase immediately. For more information on the study or to make a purchase, please contact Alison Hipp at , ext. 126 or via e-mail at .

InfoTrends/CAP Ventures is the leading worldwide market research and strategic consulting firm for the digital imaging and document solutions industry. We provide research, analysis, forecasts, and advice to help clients understand market trends, identify opportunities, and develop strategies to grow their businesses. Additional information about InfoTrends/CAP Ventures is available on the Web at www.infotrendsresearch.com.

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Allison Jones
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