Summary

Starting from the status quo at the beginning of 2008, the present report examines the potential technological developments for the next 5, 10 and 15 years. There will certainly be some changes, initiated by competition between the media and by new ideas from newspaper publishers. To date there have already been a number of moves in this direction: Automation will open up the possibility of printing newspapers almost “at the push of a button” and make it economically viable to produce very short print runs for specific target groups. Newspaper printing will gradually go the way of illustration and sheet-fed printing with increasing quality in terms of inks, papers, special dryers, etc. New business models, in which publishers will work together not only with other publishers but also with equipment suppliers, will create new options for publications. There are exciting times ahead.