Hanover, MA…April 28, 2004 -- In March 2004, I.T. Strategies surveyed 149 companies about eco solvent printers. Of the companies surveyed, 75% either have or plan to purchase an eco solvent ink jet printer. Of the 29% of the companies that plan to purchase an eco solvent ink jet printer, half of them plan to make that purchase within the next three months; 25% of respondents say they will never purchase an eco solvent printer. The survey was conducted on line in conjunction with Signindustry.com, an on-line resource for professionals in the sign industry and as a result is heavily biased toward sign shops, which represent more than 70% of respondents. Reason for Purchase/Plan to Purchase Respondents were given choices as to why they purchased/planned to purchase an eco solvent printer: - Brand preference - Want to get into new markets - Customers asking for it - Losing business to other print providers - Don’t want to outsource this type of printing any longer - Other: respondents were asked to specify reason The #1 response for buying an eco solvent printer was to enter new markets. The #2 response was because companies already in these markets don’t want to outsource the printing any longer. According to I.T. Strategies analyst, Liz Ziepniewski, “Light solvent/eco solvent devices have opened up the outdoor vinyl market to smaller players, allowing sign shops to expand into new markets including both indoor and outdoor applications. Sign shops going after new markets will start to enter the territory of print-for-pay (PFP) shops with traditional solvent machines from companies such as Vutek, Nur and Scitex. PFP shops with these traditional solvent machines could be adversely affected through the loss/decrease of their wholesale business.”