Konica to End Page Film Sales

By: Jim Rosenberg Konica Minolta Graphic Imaging Inc. today announced that it will not fill orders for imagesetter film after next March.

Based in Grand Rapids, Mich., Konica is believed to have at least half the U.S. market share for imagesetter film. It largest customers include News Corp., whose Dow Jones & Co. plants across the country are beginning a phased transition to computer-to-plate output, bypassing the filmsetting stage, as much or most of the industry already has.

A marketing executive at prepress equipment, software and consumables supplier Agfa Graphics could not be reached immediately for comment.

Southern Lithoplate, Wake Forest, N.C., plans to sell page film indefinitely. "I'll sell it as long as anybody wants film," said Sales and Marketing Vice President Steve Mattingly. "My suppliers have film for decades to come, he added.