Philippines among Southeast Asian markets to lead printing growth

KUALA LUMPUR - The Philippines is seen as one of the markets that will lead printing growth in Southeast Asia, which is poised to become the global production center for the industry over the next four years, a global printing company said.

“Within Epson, the Philippines now ranks No. 3. It came out from No. 4 last year,” said Shaun See, general manager for commercial and industrial partners at Epson Singapore Pte Ltd.

“It is also showing strong growth rate at No. 2, next to Indonesia,” See told reporters on the sidelines of a product launch here on Thursday.

Sector-wise, the local market will see more growth in the textile and garments segment than signage printing and proofing. Similar trends could also be seen in Southeast Asia this year.

Textile and garments, driven by markets such as Cambodia, Bangladesh and the Philippines, is targeted to grow 30 percent, the signage business by a fifth, while proofing could end up flat.

“By 2020, we are seeing the business to grow to $49 billion…, 54 percent of this revenue will come from Asia, up from the current 46 percent,” See said separately in a presentation during the product launch.

For the Philippines, See said the Japan-based and listed company is banking on both domestic demand and exports for further double-digit expansion over the next few years.

For fiscal year 2016, which begins in April, for instance, Epson’s operations in the Philippines are targeted to grow 18 to 20 percent. This was after an expected 27-percent in the previous period that will end this month. See did not disclose exact figures.

“Growth is coming from, No. 1, definitely sublimation production. The sublimation, which are textiles and garments, are being adopted more in the Philippines,” See said.

Sublimation, he said, pertains to businesses preferring to source their entire production capacity — from hardware to supply and services — from one brand. Epson is benefiting from this “change” in business attitude.

Lower cost of production is also a factor as well as reduced prices for products like inks over the past year.

In addition, See said, Filipinos’ “lifestyle changes” toward “high-mix and low-volume designs” would support growth in 2016.

“They have more hiking, mountain biking, cycling. That is more lifestyle-based. Companies then have to do more branding with their shirts. Customization has become more and more popular,” he said.

“So the designs are many, but the volume of printing is small,” he added.

Epson launched on Thursday its latest addition to its S-Series, the Surecolor S80670, which is said to have the highest image quality despite being 50 percent more cost-efficient than its competitors.

See said the new product, which is available for order beginning this month, could boost Epson’s revenues.

“We factored in the (bad) regional economic situation into our growth to be more realistic. But we still see the Philippines as one of the stronger markets,” he said.