Whose Deer Dominates the Ups and Downs--Analysis of China's CTP Market Competition

Since the Drupa 2000 printing exhibition in Düsseldorf in May 2000, the domestic introduction of direct platemaking technology has been overwhelming. With the perfection and introduction of many types of direct platemaking technologies such as thermal, photosensitive, polyester and even PS plates, many domestic and foreign technical experts have made predictions. The direct plate making equipment has been fully technologically mature in the next few years. Will enter the industrialization and mass popularization stage. In fact, as far back as Drupa 95, the application of direct plate-making equipment has grown into a wave in foreign countries. According to industry estimates, the installed capacity of direct plate-making equipment has reached several thousand units in developed countries in Europe and America. Relatively speaking, China's acceptance and application of direct plate making technology is much slower. Prior to Drupa 2000, only a few manufacturers such as Yangcheng Evening News, Beijing Daily, Wenjiang Xinmin Newspaper Group, and Liaoning Fine Arts Printing Factory made initial reports. try. However, with the drastic impact of Drupa 2000, the enthusiasm of domestic printing enterprises to apply direct plate making technology is gradually heating up. Many printing companies, mostly newspaper printing companies, are eager to use direct plate making equipment. At the same time, the state’s encouragement and support for direct plate making technology are also clearly visible. In the “Catalogue of industries, products, and technologies that the current state focuses on encouraging development,” the “high-definition plate making system” is impressively listed. According to news According to relevant sources in the Publications Agency, the so-called high-definition plate making system is actually a direct plate making device. The market for China's direct plate-making equipment has risen steadily, and it is the competition from the major direct plate-making equipment suppliers for market resources that has followed the rise.

Foreign brands: Obvious advantages in each country In the domestic direct plate making market, foreign brands have absolute advantages. With their strong strength, they occupy almost all the shares of the direct plate making market. Among them, Agfa, Crosby Angel, Baolu Defu and others rely on their own technological advantages and successful market strategies to take a step forward in China's direct plate-making equipment market and have achieved great success. Dainippon Screen, ECRM, Fujifilm, etc. Barco and others are not far behind and eager to try.

Agfa was one of the first companies to bring direct plate-making equipment to China and was the most successful company in China's direct plate-making equipment market. As early as 1998, they brought various models of direct plate making equipment such as Polaris, Galileo and Antares to the Chinese market. After a period of publicity and promotion, the Yangcheng Evening News Agency became the first ever direct plate making equipment of Agfa in Mainland China. Users, following the Yangcheng Evening News, Shanghai Printing Technology Research Institute, Hubei Daily Newspaper Printing Factory, and Wenhui Xinmin United Press Group have successively selected the direct plate making equipment that has been selected by more than 180 newspaper companies in the world. According to Chen Kejun, regional marketing manager of the Graphic Arts System of Agfa (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., it is estimated that by the end of 2000, Agfa's direct plate-making equipment will have more than 8 units sold in mainland China. Compared with other companies, Agfa has the advantage of strong scientific research and development and new product development. For example, the violet laser direct plate making device launched on Drupa 2000 has become the new darling of the printing industry. Among the more than 200 CTP systems, the violet laser system accounts for 70%, and the subscribers include two Chinese users. At present, the light and heat of the mainstream who is heated, Chen Kejun believes that Agfa's aim is to meet customer needs, and will not deliberately emphasize which kind of equipment. Another advantage of Agfa is its solid strength in the development and sale of media. Chen Kejun said that Agfa not only develops direct plate-making equipment, but also develops compatible plates, which will enable our direct plate-making equipment to realize its full potential. Moreover, if there is a problem during the use of the user, it is not necessary to tangled up with the issue of the media or equipment. The Agfa will give an answer.

Creo-Sai Angels is another winner of the direct plate-making equipment market in China. As of October 2000, Creo Seychelles's direct plate-making equipment has sold 10 units in China, and is expected to reach 15 units by the end of 2000. The sales of Creo Serb Angel are mainly in the field of commercial direct plate making equipment. According to the relevant person of Creo Serb Angel, the company’s sales of direct plate-making equipment are relatively complicated. Before April 2000, the company’s sales were divided into two parts, one was Heidelberg Creo and the other was Sai Angel. Now it’s For Creo Sestic Angel and Heidelberg, if all sales are added together, Creo Sesame will have the highest market share in the commercial direct-to-plate equipment market. Creo has been the leader in the field of thermal plate direct plate making equipment. From the perspective of Drupa 2000, direct plate making of thermal plates is absolutely dominant regardless of quantity or type, and industry experts believe that thermal Sensitive technology represents the future direction of the development of direct plate-making equipment. Therefore, the competitiveness of the Creo-Sino Angel in the field of direct plate-making should not be overlooked. But now the thermal plate direct plate making technology is being challenged by the violet laser technology. 9 manufacturers such as Agfa, Barco, Fujitsu, and Baldwin exhibit their own violet laser direct plate making equipment on Drupa 2000. Compared with the thermal equipment, the violet laser equipment has the advantages of fast plate making speed and long lamp life. However, Wang Bing, the regional business manager of Crosby Angels Asia, believes that because of the short production time, the process is not very mature, and only the expensive silver salt version is available, the limitations are large and therefore short-term. There is no real threat to the thermal technology, and the thermal technology is still the mainstream of development in the future.

The Danish Bradford direct plate making equipment, which is represented by Yan Jingxing, is another force that can not be ignored in the direct plate making equipment market in China. Although it has entered the Chinese market since 1999, the sales volume of Baoluodefu direct plate making equipment in China There are only two, but with the introduction of the traditional PS version of the direct-platform device Dicon in the launch of Drupa 2000, industry experts are optimistic about the market prospects of the Baldwin in the domestic market. Shen Haixiang, director of the China Institute of Printing Science and Technology, believes that due to the fact that the price of ordinary PS is much lower than that of the thermal or silver salt version, the main difficulty in the promotion of direct plate-making equipment in China is solved. Using ordinary plate version of the direct plate making equipment will have a certain market in the country. As one of the few suppliers of traditional plate direct plate making equipment, Baolu Telford will naturally take the initiative in the future competition in this market.

In addition, Dainippon Screen, ECRM, Barco, Fujitsu, etc. have also won a place in the direct plate-making market. In an interview during the Epmedia exhibition held in October 2000, our reporter learned that the direct plate making equipment of Dainippon Screens had just entered the Chinese market in June 2000, but one device was already installed. Although ECRM has not yet been sold, it is expected that this situation will change by the end of 2000. As for Barco and Fuji, although their direct plate-making equipment has just settled in China, with the excellent performance of their photo-composition equipment in China, naturally, they are not willing to live for the rest of the world in the new round of competition.

Domestic brands: Four males have risen up to catch up From a worldwide perspective, direct plate making technology has gradually become the focus of attention since Drupa 95, and has rapidly entered the application stage in recent years. However, due to various reasons, although the development of our country's direct platemaking technology started earlier, it was only in the past one or two years that it had only had an impact. From the currently available information, China has publicly announced that there have been four manufacturers that have developed direct plate-making equipment, namely, Peking University Huatong, Sitong, Shenyang Boji, and Oriental Communications. However, it seems that domestically-made plate-making equipment has a long way to go compared with internationally-known brands in terms of popularity and influence. In the domestic direct plate making market, domestic brands have to compete with international brands and they must take time.

The Department of Physics of Peking University is the first organization engaged in the development of direct plate-making technology in China. As early as the mid-1980s, when direct plate-making equipment was a concept product in foreign countries, they had already begun to develop a domestic-made plate-making machine. By 1995, Peking University and related departments held a product appraisal meeting. However, due to the fact that prototypes at the time were not very satisfactory in terms of speed and accuracy, the impact was not too great.

In 1997, Peking University and Huatong cooperated to continue research on direct plate-making equipment. In 1998, the research project received financial support from the State Planning Commission. Now, after the improvement, Huatong has produced three prototypes of the direct plate-making machine BH3000, and successfully tested it in a foreign language printing factory. According to Mr. Li Feng of Huatong Company, BH3000 adopts the silver salt version, which has reached the international standard in terms of accuracy. However, there is still a lack of speed, which still needs improvement. Compared with foreign brands, the current price of BH3000 is about 880,000 yuan, which is 1/3 to 1/2 of that of foreign brands. In domestic brands, this price is a relatively high level.

Eastern Communications Co., Ltd. entered the research field of direct plate-making equipment in 1996. According to the company’s relevant sources, the reason why the development of direct plate-making equipment was initiated was influenced by Drupa 95. It is believed that direct plate-making is the technology of the future. Direction of development. In 1998, Dongxin's first direct plate-making machine, the DX 5000, was successfully developed. Later, they developed the DX8000. However, so far, the sales volume of direct plate-making machines on the Eastcom company's sales performance chart has remained zero. The relevant person of Eastcom Company explained that there are two main reasons. One is that the domestic version of the material does not pass, and the silver salt version matching DX 5000 and DX8000 still mainly depends on the import; the second is that the plate making speed of the Eastcom direct plate making machine is difficult to meet the newspaper industry. demand. The source also stressed that the main task of Eastcom is still to strengthen technology development and strive to develop direct plate-making equipment and plates that can be compared with international brands. In Eastcom's current planning, product development is still the first.

Sitong and Shenyang Boji Technology Development Co., Ltd. both joined the development of direct plate-making technology at the end of 1999 and took out the first prototype at the beginning of 2000. Both of them also claimed to be the first in China. Taiwan direct plate making equipment. From the sales point of view, Stone and Boji are also the leaders of domestic direct plate making equipment. Among them, Stone is particularly prominent. According to Mr. Yang Weizhong of the company, there are currently nearly 10 users of Stone's CTP 2000A and CTP 2000B. However, there is still a certain gap between the speed and accuracy of the direct plate-making equipment of either the four-way or Boji set and foreign famous brands. At present, the accuracy of the four-way direct plate-making equipment can only reach 130 lines/inch, and one version of the Boji device takes 8 minutes. These are still unable to fully meet the requirements of users, and some people use the four-way and the Bo set. The ink jet method also has some views, so its application space has certain limitations. However, the advantages of Stone and Boji are also very obvious. Among them, Stone's equipment is priced at around RMB 200,000, and Boji is between RMB 100,000 and RMB 400,000, and both can use ordinary PS versions. Solved the problem of high prices for imported CTP plates, which is quite tempting for some small and medium-sized printing companies. While seeing its own strengths and weaknesses, Stone and Boji have also continued to advance. According to Mr. Lu of Stone Company, Stone, while continuing to improve the direct plate-making equipment, is also accelerating the development of the plate material. It is expected that A silver salt version that is developed by Stone for a long time and whose price is much lower than that of imported products will be available. The relevant person of Boji Company also stated that it will continue to promote the serialization and diversification of its products. Whether it is Huatong, Stone or Boji, when it comes to the advantages of competing with foreign brands, they all talk about their own price advantage. Undoubtedly, price is a major weapon for the national industry to win in competition with foreign brands. However, it is not enough just to have a price advantage. For domestic direct plate making equipment manufacturers, it is more important to increase scientific research, improve the technological content of products, and enrich the product line. In the interview, Agfa and ECRM’s related personnel all talked about providing various types of products to customers according to market demand.