OH-NO: Fujifilm Retreats From Global Offset Plates—After Fighting Kodak, Is China the Real Winner?

Fujifilm’s decision to transfer its Chinese offset printing plate operation and most of its global offset plate business outside Japan, the United States, Canada and Mexico to China’s Huangshan Jinruitai Technology (JRT) raises an uncomfortable question for the printing industry: After years of battling Kodak over offset plate technology and market share, what exactly was the end game? Fujifilm aggressively defended its printing plate patents, including litigation against Kodak involving its Sonora process-free plates, while Kodak itself fought against Chinese and Japanese plate imports in the U.S. Now Fujifilm is stepping away from much of the global offset plate market and handing a significant portion of that business to a Chinese manufacturer, including licenses covering Fujifilm printing plate brands and intellectual property. Fujifilm says the strategy reflects the inevitable shift from traditional offset printing toward digital printing, automation and its Revoria digital press business—but critics could reasonably ask whether the industry spent years fighting over patents and market territory only to watch China emerge with an even larger role in the global plate supply chain. Did Fujifilm win the Kodak battle but lose the bigger strategic war? For printers and distributors, this isn’t simply another corporate restructuring—it could signal a dramatic transfer of influence in the global CTP and offset plate market. The irony is hard to ignore: Fujifilm fought to protect its offset technology, and now China’s JRT is positioned to inherit a substantial piece of the business.