Canon announces the varioPRINT iX-series of sheetfed inkjet presses, targeting production volumes up to 10 million A4 pages per month. The press can print more than 9000 SRA3 pages per hour on a wide range of media, including offset coated paper from 90 to 350gsm. It is another step forward for inkjet print technology moving into offset printing territory.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupts major trade shows. Among these are FESPA 2020 which gets postponed from March to October 2020 and drupa, which moves to 2021. Another side effect of the disease is that Xerox has to give up its attempts to take over HP.
Monotype acquires URW Type Foundry from Global Graphics. This expands Monotype’s font library with 513 typeface families, including classics like Futura and Franklin Gothic.
Japanese industry giant Kyocera enters the professional inkjet printing market with the TASKalfa Pro 15000c. Previously the company focused on home and office printing.
Heidelberg sells its pressroom chemicals business, MIS developer Cerm, label press manufacturer Gallus and part of its Wiesloch-Walldorf manufacturing site.
Classic Blue (Pantone 19-4052) is the color of the year.
These are some important or remarkable events from 2020:
- Australia faces one of its most devastating wildfire seasons.
- The #MeToo movement against sexual abuse and sexual harassment gains force.
- A giant explosion in the port of Beirut kills at least 190 people and injures thousands.
- In the United States, the police-involved killing of George Floyd leads to massive Black Lives Matter protests across the nation.
- The United Kingdom withdraws from the European Union.
- The Coronavirus outbreak in China turns into a global pandemic. By the end of the year, some 1.7 million people have died from it