LEXINGTON, KY -- WhatTheyThink, the leading news and information source for the graphic communications industry, announces the immediate availability of its new Quarterly Business Conditions Report—July 2009: The WhatTheyThink Economic and Research Center’s Overview of the Current Economic State of the Industry. This 96-page report provides the results of the Economics and Research Center’s June 2009 survey of print business owners, and compares these results to past quarterly surveys to provide an accurate gauge of how print businesses professionals perceive the economic landscape, how those perceptions are changing, and what actions they are likely to take in response to challenging economic times. In addition to our own survey results, we also provide the most current data available on printing industry shipments, profits, and capital expenditures.

To put the printing industry data in context, we also provide a multitude of other economic data, such as GDP, unemployment, inflation, consumer confidence, and more, as well as our own commentary on what trends in these data tell us about prevailing economic conditions and the market for print. The report also includes the ERC’s own hand-picked set of economic indicators that we feel will provide a “recovery roadmap” to let us know when the economy is on the upswing.

The Quarterly Business Conditions Report also looks at other trends affecting the industry, provides a handful of suggested “action items” that proactive printing companies and individuals can take to help combat tough economic times, and offers a new feature that we call “Dark Clouds and Silver Linings,” a list of both immediate threats to the industry as well as opportunities for industry businesspeople.

Some of the topics covered in this report include:

• How commercial printers’ business conditions for the first half of 2009 have compared to those of the first half of 2008.
• How commercial printers expect business for the rest of 2009 to compare to business in 2008.
• What “action items” printers are taking to combat the economic downturn.
• What—if any—capital expenditures printers plan to make in 2009.
• What the short- and long-term effects of the recession will be on the printing industry.
• What other cultural, technological, and media trends are affecting the industry and the market for print?

According to the report:

• 48% of respondents to the ERC’s June 2009 survey said that business decreased more than 10%, up from the 41% that said this in the March survey.
• On the positive side, 17% of June respondents said that business increased compared to 2008, unchanged from March.
• Still, 70% of June survey respondents said they expect 2009 revenues to decrease compared to 2008 revenues, up substantially from the 59% that said this in March.
• On the somewhat positive side, 17% of June respondents said they expect revenues to increase in 2009 compared to 2008, down from the 26% that said this in March.

The Quarterly Business Conditions Report also provides WhatTheyThink’s outlook, conclusions, and recommendations.

Quarterly Business Conditions Report—July 2009: The WhatTheyThink Economic and Research Center’s Overview of the Current Economic State of the Industry is available for online purchase at the WhatTheyThink eStore.

Researcher’s Comments

“While the recession is at the top of everyone’s mind right now, it bears stressing that bad economic times tend to exaggerate and accelerate trends that existed when times were good. One thing the printing industry has learned in the past 30 years is that the industry’s own business conditions do not always march in lockstep with prevailing economic trends—for better or worse. In this report, we sift through the sea of data and seek to provide useful, actionable information. As they say, it’s one thing to curse the darkness (or provide data on how dark it actually is), but quite another to light a candle. As a result, this report is not designed to be all doom-and-gloom, but rather to lay out the current landscape, and offer suggestions for ways that companies can survive—and perhaps thrive.”

Availability

The WhatTheyThink special report, Quarterly Business Conditions Report—July 2009: The WhatTheyThink Economic and Research Center’s Overview of the Current Economic State of the Industry is available for purchase by visiting the secure WhatTheyThink eStore online at http://members.whattheythink.com. The price for the 96-page report is $250. WhatTheyThink eStore customers can download this report in PDF Acrobat format immediately after purchase. Readers can purchase all four quarterly reports for a total of $750. Enterprise site licenses are also available for $1,250 for any single quarterly report, or $3,750 for the set of four.

Editor’s Note

Additional information pertaining to each report is available for editorial purposes. Please make inquiries directly to Cary Sherburne at 603-430-5463 or [email protected],  or visit http://members.whattheythink.com).

About WhatTheyThink...

WhatTheyThink is the printing and publishing industry's leading 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. WhatTheyThink also hosts webinars and live events that are timely and relevant o today's busy industry executives along with consulting and speaker services that leverage a talented pool of writers and industry analysts.

WhatTheyThink consists of flagship site WhatTheyThink.com, discussion forum site PrintPlanet.com, and industry blog PrintCEO.com.