The Dichotomies of the Global Printing Industry

5. All printing is placing a substance on a substrate, except when it is ancillary services

Most of the growth in printing industry revenue during the last few years, was not due to growth in putting ink or toner on paper. It was due to the creation of new services, such as mailing, fulfillment, database, and other services complementary to printing. It costs less than $0.35 to print a magazine issue, but over $0.42 to mail it. As the prices for petrol and postage increase, a key challenge for publishers is how to lower these costs.