In my last post I highlighted the DRUPA effect and - to nobody's surprise - the third quarter of 2012 appears to be more in line with the rather depressing new normal in the market for offset printing equipment.
Making sense out of the various financial and industry reports is always a bit challenging, but the emerging picture in the sheetfed market shows the German suppliers (in particular Heidelberg, but also KBA) expanding their overall dominant market position. I am purposely not including the web offset segment, mainly because two of the three global leaders are not reporting results. (However, based on the known orders of the last two quarters, the market for web offset equipment continues to be very slow, not surprising, if one looks at the overall economic picture.)
Making sense out of the various financial and industry reports is always a bit challenging, but the emerging picture in the sheetfed market shows the German suppliers (in particular Heidelberg, but also KBA) expanding their overall dominant market position. I am purposely not including the web offset segment, mainly because two of the three global leaders are not reporting results. (However, based on the known orders of the last two quarters, the market for web offset equipment continues to be very slow, not surprising, if one looks at the overall economic picture.)
In order to get to more of an apples-to-apples comparison for sheetfed, I had to make a few assumptions, but by and large the big picture is probably pretty close to what you see here.
With Manroland Sheetfed's sparse reporting of new orders an inclusion here would have to be based on guesswork, but the deafening silence probably confirms that the company's market position continues to dwindle. HD and KBA appear to be the primary beneficiaries. The other company normally included would be Mitsubishi, but again it has all but disappeared from its parent group's reporting (and possibly from the markets outside Asia). Most likely its sheetfed business is in the neighborhood of Ryobi's and thus does not affect the overall picture much.
All in all, Heidelberg and KBA have a commanding share of the market and especially Heidelberg benefited from DRUPA. The improved backlog buys the company a bit more time as it realigns itself to a much smaller market for sheetfed presses.
A closer look at the regional and segment performance reveals additional insights. Maybe in another posting after the big turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving!
With Manroland Sheetfed's sparse reporting of new orders an inclusion here would have to be based on guesswork, but the deafening silence probably confirms that the company's market position continues to dwindle. HD and KBA appear to be the primary beneficiaries. The other company normally included would be Mitsubishi, but again it has all but disappeared from its parent group's reporting (and possibly from the markets outside Asia). Most likely its sheetfed business is in the neighborhood of Ryobi's and thus does not affect the overall picture much.
All in all, Heidelberg and KBA have a commanding share of the market and especially Heidelberg benefited from DRUPA. The improved backlog buys the company a bit more time as it realigns itself to a much smaller market for sheetfed presses.
A closer look at the regional and segment performance reveals additional insights. Maybe in another posting after the big turkey.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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