This would have to do with how you define “Print”
If you take a look at traditional print such as litho, web etc then yes the market is shrinking.
In today’s market people’s expectations are changing, people expect to have their print in their hands in two to three days rather than the two to three weeks we used to expect. And because of this, digital print technology is increasing rapidly; think of the increase in vehicle/ building wrapping as well as large format/digital billboards and the movement from paper to electronic print.
Unfortunately, at the moment digital paper print still has many limitations, such as size and the lack of multiple finishes and I still only think of digital as an alternative for litho for when run size and cost are an issue, but as technology progresses then quality and cost will become less of an issue.
Twenty years ago our high streets were inundated with record shops and who would have thought then that they would disappear as if over night. The same is happening with print, even in the early days of computers we would wait weeks to see our masterpiece in print now it can be a matter of hours if not minutes and as print becomes more versatile we will find more ways to represent ourselves using the new technologies.
With regards to the change over from traditional to electronic print I don’t think we will be losing traditional print just yet, but as electronic print becomes the norm, seeing your product in a glossy brochure or magazine will seem like something out of the ark to the younger generations who have been brought up purely on electronic print.
So is print at the end of its lifecycle? Print is morphing and changing and as long as we all move with the times we will be fine.
