The total commercial printing industry in the whole of US includes around 35,000 companies accounting for $90 billion of annual revenue. However, bulk of commercial printers are either small or of medium size. Despite efforts at consolidation, the commercial printing industry is highly fragmented as the largest 50 companies hold only about 30 percent of the market. The advent of digital technology is threatening to alter the entire scenario of the commercial printing market. Prices for digital color pages are falling below offset printing prices and it is a grim fact that more and more clients are shifting to digital printing. Commercial printers generally produce magazines, phone books, labels, advertising brochures, catalogs, bit notices, direct mail marketing literature, annual reports, instruction manuals, sales promotional materials etc.
Any person engaging in commercial printing has different presses and binding equipment 
available to execute various types of jobs. The main printing process used is offset lithography, with either sheet fed presses or web presses. It is generally accepted that Sheet fed presses print up to 16 pages of letter-sized product at a time, at speeds up to 15,000 impressions per hour. Web presses print 32 pages at a time at speeds over 40,000 impressions per hour, and are usually used for production runs of more than 50,000 copies.
Presses usually print in single, double, four, or six colors; although there are few presses that can print even eight. As regards commercial printing, paper constitutes the dominant individual manufacturing cost, amounting to 25 percent of revenues. Printing papers are often coated, and are bought in sheets or rolls from wholesale dealers. Paper prices keep varying from time to time. Commercial printers generally do not stock large inventories of paper as requirements and varieties of paper change from job to job. Instead, they rely on regional paper distributors to provide them the many varieties and grades of paper and boards, printing inks, films, printing plates, cleaning solvents and all other material needed for printing. The largest market demand for commercial printing services is advertising, newspaper inserts, magazines, and direct mail materials.
Many commercial printers keep extra presses to meet peak demands. Marketing is usually done by a traditional sales force calling on potential customers. Commercial printing is a local business. Small printers can compete effectively with large ones because of their small size and the high variability of most printing jobs. The high degree of personal attention that most printing jobs require, such as client approvals of proofs and "press checks" during actual printing, means that customers prefer to use a local commercial printer. Some types of printing, such as magazines and catalogs with large print runs, are more effectively handled by large commercial printers.
Commercial printing industry is facing challenges as virtually all prepress work is now done with computers and the advancement to an all-digital printing environment is happening fast. Small printers may not be prepared to make the investments in digital technology. Information distribution through electronic means, such as the Internet and email communication, is further reducing the demand for printed materials. Company annual reports and prospectuses are now available electronically over the Internet. Electronic version of documents that can be stored and viewed on portable devices may eventually usurp many printed magazines.
Laser and color printers now produce many jobs formerly handled by commercial printers. Even smaller companies can produce many documents on their own high-volume printers. As their cost per page continues to decline, digital presses will take away from commercial printers more and more print jobs. Customers are demanding faster and shorter runs, forcing printers to find ways to increase speed while maintaining profit margins. Commercial printers who delay in investing in digital presses will increasingly lose their competitive advantage.