Vitesh Sharma, country manager - greater India, HP India Sales, standing at the companies stand showcases some of their home decor print products. photo IPP
Indian Printer and Publisher, the Media partner at the Media Expo 2021, met with various companies at the recent Media Expo in Greater Noida. At its stand at the show we asked Vitesh Sharma, the HP’s country manager for the inkjet device business about the experience of the show and the machines and technologies on display.
“As the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdowns stopped all the flow of work, everybody was forced to work from home, but now the situation has changed. Now, people are returning on the track. The gathering of people is still an alarming situation as the pandemic is not yet over, but, it is one more sign that the Indian economy is again recovering and people are working with greater enthusiasm.”
HP launched its 4 generation Latex printers for the Indian market in the Media Expo, with various applications for home and office decor, traffic signage, wallpaper, textile printing,
Digital printing on the door of the car. Showcases by HP India in the Media Expo. photo IPP
and many other products for the first time in India. Sharma, said there could not have been a more robust platform than Media Expo to showcase the company’s recently announced 4th generation Latex printers. “After a long time, it’s thrilling to have our first actual encounter with industry partners, consumers, and the ‘who’s who’ of the business, he said.
Commenting on the prospects of HP India going forward, Sharma added, “India is a growing, and after Covid-19 it is bouncing back, and now the streamlined Indian market is also picking up the pace and is in excellent economic shape. HP India is looking for a positive response from the visitors to the Media Expo and the customers who we are already catering to for their signage and the textile printing solutions.”
2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India
Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and
multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.
The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry.
While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately
their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book
printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.
The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.
Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.
Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.
Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.
