September 19, 2002 - WhatTheyThink.com and CAP Ventures have released the results of the Printer Confidence Index. The data was compiled earlier this month from printers throughout the United States. The index provides industry executives with real-time analysis of PRINT DEMAND and CAPITAL SPENDING expectations. In September, for the first time in three months, there was an increase in print providers (24.4%) indicating their local market conditions are “starting or continuing to improve”. Despite the improvement in market sentiment, over 40% of print providers categorized their local conditions as “starting or continuing to decline”. The slight up-tick in market sentiment is likely due to seasonal increases in demand associated with many fall promotional campaigns. Despite the improvement in market sentiment, the percentage of printers that are expecting their current month business (September) to grow compared with last month (August) was flat. In September 39.1% of printer expect their business to grow over the preceding month, compared with August when 39.5% of printers expected their business to grow over the preceding month. CAP Ventures expected a bigger increase of printers seeing growth in September over August. However, the print customer companion research (Print Buyer Pulse Index due out tomorrow) suggests that many print customers are not spending more in September than in August. --------- Premium Access members can view the charts, graphs, demographics and complete comparisons with previous months. The Index tracks print demand last month, this month and the coming six months. It includes key government data like the Federal Reserve’s industrial production and capacity utilization rates. The Index also examines past, present and future spending plans on capital equipment like: - Prepress - Offset & Conventional Presses - Color Copiers & Printers - High Speed Digital Color - High Speed Digital B&W - Wide Format Printers - Bindery Equipment - Print Management Software For more information, visit www.whattheythink.com