Showtime – The Pre-IPEX event season has started

Every big events has its forebodings and so do big trade shows like drupa or IPEX have a string of press events running up to the event itself, in which vendors and show organizers give the press a first glimpse on the things to come. This will be the first blog on pre-IPEX announcements and there will be more coming up in the next days and weeks as the information trickles in.
The IPEX organizers themselves set the scene today at the first pre-IPEX event and shared some pre-show figures. IPEX will be big – but slightly smaller than IPEX was in 2006. Floorspace will be reduced by 15%, but still will encompass a whopping 60.000 square metres (approx 650.000 square feet). The IPEX organizers are still upbeat as initially a much bigger drop in the number and booked floorspace of the exhibitors was expected. There are only 3,500 square metres of exhibition space vacant and the IPEX organizers are confident to fill these gaps soon.

There was some interesting news however on who is taking how much space. In 2010 HP will have the biggest booth, by beating Heidelberger Druckmaschinen by about 500 square meters. Heidelberg’s booth size essentially halved compared to IPEX 06. An even bigger drop had Xerox in its booth size, but Xerox still ties with Canon on the third rank in booth size. Fujifilm, Kodak, Ricoh/InfoPrint, Konica Minolta and Océ complement the line-up of digital companies in the top 10, joined by Friedheim International, a U.K. based finishing equipment dealer. In other words 8 out of the top 10 exhibitors by booth size sell digital printing equipment. KBA and manroland are present at IPEX as well, but with smaller booth sizes. Overall the share of digital equipment manufacturers increased from 26% to 38% of the show floor, while printing press manufacturers dropped from 41% in 2006 to 26% in 2010.

At the same time the show is getting more international. About 50% of attendees are expected to be from outside of the U.K., compared to 40% in 2006. Additionally 28% of the over 1,000 exhibitors are new to the show, illustrating the innovation potential that is still within the Graphic Arts industry. Especially Chinese manufacturers have been very active and their presence at the show will essentially double. No doubt – at IPEX 2010 there will be some interesting news to be found on the showfloor.

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