February 5, 2008 - Lexington, KY - WhatTheyThink, the leading online media organization serving the printing and publishing industry, today announced the availability of their most current report titled “Monthly U.S. Printing Shipments, Issue #27.” Authored by Dr. Joe Webb, director of WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center, the report is available for immediate purchase at:

www.wttstore.com/monthly-us-printing-shipments.html

“December printing shipments were $8.8 billion or +1.3% over the same month in 2006,” said Dr. Webb, director of WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center. “On inflation-adjusted basis, however, December shipments were down -$244 million or -2.7% compared to 2006. Pressures for industry consolidation have been intensifying for months as shipments are not keeping up with the economy while costs such as paper, materials, and labor have been rising. Market conditions do not allow printers to pass these cost increases through the print value chain.”

For 2007, commercial printing shipments were $102.3 billion, a 1.3% increase. After adjusting for inflation, however, shipments were down -1.5%.

The Monthly U.S. Printing Shipments Report, based on data from 2003 through 2007, contains both current and inflation-adjusted analysis of commercial printing and print services shipments, and forecasts of 2008 through 2010. The bonus audio file includes his frank analysis, opinions, and strategic outlook. Containing PDF, Excel and PowerPoint files, the cost of the report is $50.00 and features an MP3 file of audio commentary from Dr. Webb as well. Those purchasing the report can easily repurpose the charts and data for internal, client presentations, and reports.

The report contains significant and proprietary analysis and by Dr. Webb and WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center. It is a top-level analysis of the U.S. commercial printing and trade services markets such as commercial offset, digital, and other printing processes, as well as prepress and postpress contained in the standard business classification NAICS 323.

www.wttstore.com/monthly-us-printing-shipments.html

WhatTheyThink's Economics and Research Center contains a blend of free and premium content for graphic arts and publishing executives. It offers an online library of primary research reports, executive summaries of economic trends, and related industry columns, videos, podcasts and webinars.

About WhatTheyThink

WhatTheyThink is the printing and publishing industry's leading online media organization; offering a wide range of publications delivering unbiased, real-time market intelligence, industry news, economic and trend analysis, peer-to-peer communication, and special reports on emerging technology and critical events. Serving a membership base of more than 50,000, WhatTheyThink also hosts webinars and live events as well as providing content through a syndication program, which delivers content directly to related websites and through RSS. The organization also provides consulting and speakers bureau services to the industry.