State of the Industry Update Midyear 2026
The PRINTING United Alliance State of the Industry Update Midyear 2026 draws on insights from nearly 200 companies across the printing industry. Participants include commercial printers, graphic and sign (wide-format) producers, package and label printers, promotional product imprinters, apparel decorators, and functional printers, with annual sales ranging from under $500,000 to more than $400 million. This report summarizes how these companies performed through the first half of 2026 as war, tariffs, and elevated interest rates weighed on the industry, focusing on sales and real sales, operating cost inflation, pricing, profitability, capital investment, and expectations for the remainder of the year. Additionally, it identifies what printers most want to improve as the Fourth Industrial Revolution reshapes the industry and what will define the profit leaders of the future. The report also tracks the rapid expansion of AI adoption, including use cases, benefits, challenges, skills, and training. Must-dos for success highlighted in the report include building a network of AI champions and deploying AI agents to streamline office work. The Executive Summary is available for everyone to download. PRINTING United Alliance members can download the full report below. If you have any questions, please contact us at ResearchTeam@printing.org.Executive SummaryDownloadMembers Can Access the Full Report for FREE:Login to Download the Full Report