Opportunity In the New Paper Trail
The surging interest in e-printers is roiling the $126 billion U.S. printing industry. According to research firm InfoTrends/CAP Ventures, print jobs that move through the Internet made up 12.5% of the total U.S. printing market last year. Charlie Corr, a group director at InfoTrends, projects e-printing will grow at a rate of 19% a year through 2010.Robert Keane, VistaPrint’s chief executive, says the Bermuda-based company generates about $30 million in revenue a quarter. The company went public in late September — underwritten by investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. — and has seen its stock price more than double from the offering price of $12.
Its competitors are also posting strong numbers. Privately held Mimeo Inc., based in New York, says it generated $15 million in revenue in 2004, up 70% from 2003. IPrint Systems Inc., Redwood City, Calif., says it has one million customers and its revenue is rising 65% a year, though the private company declined to disclose underlying figures.
Perhaps the best measure of e-printing’s success is that traditional printers are taking steps online as well. For instance, FedEx Corp.’s FedEx Kinko’s unit now provides online ordering. There are no design services available, as with purely online printers. But you can upload a fully completed document to FedEx Kinko’s site and then walk through the entire order process, choosing the type of paper and binding, for example, in a matter of minutes. Customers can arrange for the order to be shipped to their own address or picked up at a FedEx Kinko’s store.
Photo by adactio.
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