News COVID-19 Printing
WhatTheyThink updates industry outlook to reflect COVID-19’s impact

WhatTheyThink’s Printing Outlook 2020 report, released in January, has been updated to reflect the current and potential impact of COVID-19 on the printing industry. The update is meant to go hand-in-hand with the original report’s analysis of the latest industry and cultural technological trends.

The update is based on a March 2020 survey of print business owners that were asked about the current and expected impacts of the crisis. Its findings include:

• Forty-nine per cent of survey respondents expect that the crisis will be moderately severe and persist through summer.
• Seventy-four per cent are expecting a 10 per cent or higher drop in revenues for this year.
• Almost half of respondents have downsized their production staff, or expect to do so.

The report also updates the company’s industry forecast for 2020 value of shipments (and value of shipments through 2028). Since it is unknown how long COVID-19 will continue to impact daily life, it is also unknown what the ultimate economic impact of the crisis will be. The COVID-19 Update offers best- and worst-case scenarios and updates select macroeconomic data series.

Along with this information, the Update includes the original report, which had included the results of the Fall 2019 Business Outlook Survey, which identified prevailing trends in the industry that may persist once the crisis is over.

The report is available at  https://store.whattheythink.com/downloads/printing-outlook-2020/.