Ujjwala Upadhyay, brand manager of Insight Print Communication with the HP Latex 700 W. Photo IPP
Printing solutions specialist HP showcased its Latex 700 W printer at the Media Expo 2023 exhibition taking place at Greater Noida’s Expo Mart from 14 to 16 September. Facilitating ease in printing for the decor and signage industries, the company targeted the exhibition to reach out to new signage printing customers.
“It’s a good exhibition, and it is noticeable how much the signage industry has evolved. Every time we visit the Media Expo exhibition, we get to see something new,” said Ujjwala Upadhyay, brand manager of Insight Print Communication. “The HP Latex 700 W printer is a white ink machine best suited for the decor and signage industries and we expect some serious sales inquiries using this exhibition.”
Upadhyay says HP introduced water-based inks in India and it is common knowledge, “It is a sustainable technology as sustainability is the need of the hour. This machine uses fourth-generation inks and was launched in the Indian market around two years ago. The vibrancy of the fourth generation colors is also much higher, about 30% more than the third generation inks.”
Indian Printer and Publisher had covered the previous edition of the Media Expo that took place in Mumbai in March 2023. HP fondly talked about its fourth-generation latex inks during our visit.
Vitesh Sharma, HP’s country manager for the inkjet device business, had said, “HPhas been investing in latex technology for more than a decade, and has been evolving ever since. Now we have reached the fourth generation. The HP Latex 2700 W printer’s USP is that the fourth-generation inks provide a much larger gamut of colors. The vibrancy of the fourth generation colors is also much higher, about 30% more than the third generation inks.”
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.
