Beauty and
 the Beast

Challenges ahead

The primary challenges for label printers stem from two root issues: the overall sluggishness of the current post-recession recovery and the highly fragmented nature of the tag and label supply base (coupled with a sense of over capacity).

U.S. GDP growth is a highly watched economic indicator under normal circumstances, but has been under increased scrutiny throughout the 2008-2009 recession and this subsequent poor-excuse-for-a-recovery. It is important to the tag and label market because, as AWA points out in the study, "These economic growth figures are indicators for label demand. From historical patterns, label market growth in developed regions will broadly follow these economic growth patterns."