Wide-Format: A Bright Spot in Print
By Lynn Nannariello, assistant managing editor, and Joe Tischner, wide format test specialist, May 1, 2012
When BLI recently spoke to representatives from two major wide-format manufacturers—HP and Océ—about the state of the wide-format market, we found that, contrary to recent reports, not all news in the print industry is bad.
According to Sal Sheikh, vice president of marketing for Océ North America’s wide-format printing systems division, Océ’s wide-format devices cover two applications environments—technical documents and display graphics—both of which have seen significant growth. He attributed the company’s growth in the technical document sector to Xerox’s exit from the wide-format technical document market. After Xerox left the market in 2011, Océ expanded its distribution by establishing relationships with resellers who previously sold Xerox products and with Xerox customers. In the display graphics market, growth came from sales of the Océ Arizona product line, a portfolio that continued to expand in 2011.