Wide format printers agreed that the business is here to stay, but what's next?
In the future, Meister believes companies will continue to renew their brands and product presence in the marketplace with static graphics as well as electronic media.
"The need to keep those images fresh and new looking will actually accelerate and create a higher demand for things like short run, regional and even local variable data type product presentations and promotions. All of this is where this part of the industry can excel. Also, the need for more on time or on demand marketing products will increase as companies will not see as much value in putting large inventories of print into their warehouses only to see 30 percent of it tossed out unused," he said. "On the far horizon, well who knows exactly. I expect someone to make a high quality, high speed, large format digital press someday that will either be toner-based or some other ink technology that will make a lot of the current machines obsolete."