InfoTrends, a research company based in Weymouth, MA, USA, estimates that converters worldwide spent $166 million on production level color digital presses in 2010, and that that total will grow at a 10.3 percent annual rate from 2010 to 2015. Those details were among many included in a new publication: Color Digital Packaging and Labels Market Forecast, 2010-2015.

“2010 was a bigger year for color electrophotographic presses than we expected; meanwhile inkjet placements were not as robust as we had earlier forecasted,” says Bob Leahey, the forecast’s author and associate director of InfoTrends’ Color Digital Label and Package continuous information service. “There’s good growth, though, on both sides. Converters now often use color digital presses in tandem with their analog systems, and some converters operate both electrophotographic and inkjet presses.”

The new report includes a detailed numerical description of the regional markets for costly color digital presses made by such companies as Agfa, EFI Jetrion, HP Indigo, Xeikon, and Xerox. It describes the placements, revenues, and installed bases for the collective brands for the forecast period worldwide. The report also estimates and forecasts revenues for media, toners, and inks cut by label, folding carton, and flexible packaging applications, and it calculates value of printed output for each.

“Right now label and packaging converters worldwide bill about $2 billion annually for the output of their color digital presses,” Leahey continued. “While about 95 percent of that value is for labels for consumer goods, the young folding carton and flexible packaging applications are themselves growing. Geographically, Europe/Middle East/Afric and North America are the biggest markets for color digital label and packaging presses. Asia Pacific and Japan and the rest of the world are the smaller and faster-growing regions.”

InfoTrends’ Color Digital Packaging and Labels Market Forecast report provides pivot tables for placements, installed base, revenue, volume, and retail value of print. In addition, the report contains a detailed set of slides that distill and describe the forecast data and also the thinking behind it. These slides describe the in-scope presses and applications, recent developments affecting the market, the key forces at work in future markets.

The forecast is available for immediate purchase. For more information, visit InfoTrends’ online store or email Robyn Wuori.