'Offset-digital printing is changing industry dynamics'

Xerox is planning to increase its channel exposure to penetrate Indian
markets targeting the commercial printing industry in India. It is focusing on
providing a digital touch to the offset printing. Xerox production and graphics
arts marketing operations VP Marcus Childs speaks to Zia Askari of CyberMedia
about its focus in the region and changing market dynamics.

Where would you put India with regards to your global operations?

Globally, we are betting big on three markets: Russia, South Africa and
India. Xerox is a $16 bn company when it comes to global revenues and, roughly,
about $3.2 bn comes from the printing industry. Our Indian operations' revenue
would come to about $100 mn, which, though not that big, but the market
potential is quite huge.

How has the printing business changed over the years? How do you leverage
on this change?

Yes, many things have changed in this industry. As we move forward, we would
be working closely with our customers to integrate offset with digital
technology. This change is quite predominant in the other markets where we
operate and, pretty soon, India will also have a large number of customers going
in for this technology. This whole concept of on-demand printing means that you
can print what you want, when you want and exactly how you want. This is
changing the industry dynamics and we want to leverage on this change with the
help of our product offerings in this segment.

How will you increase the focus towards the graphics arts segment in
India?

VP Marcus Childs

We are going to focus on the concept of 'print for pay' for the
commercial printing community. In order to increase the market potential within
the graphics arts segment, we want to have right products available at right
pricing and at the right place, within this country. We are now all set to focus
on increasing our channel presence when it comes to provide graphics arts
products in the country. But we would be doing this very selectively, as the
market dynamics have changed quite a lot. We would be working closely with
players who are focused towards this segment.

What is the cost involved in this offset-digital technology enhancements?

It is very difficult to put figures over here, because there are a lot of
adjustments that go with this technology, in the commercial printing industry.
But, on an average, the cost for integrating offset with digital technology
could range between Rs 1-5 crore.