A tempestuous, hot-and-cold week for the UK has been reflected in the climate surrounding one particular event: Ipex 2014. In the past few days both HP and Agfa have withdrawn, and Benny Landa has been cited claiming that he might rethink his spend. But do these announcements have any significance to the market at large, and therefore any consequence for this major international print event?

Two swallows, to misquote, do not a summer make. HP's current, unhappy financial narrative pairs with a large drupa expenditure with major launches and the shifting of 70 machines to Düsseldorf for the privilege. The company has witnessed earnings and revenue declines over the last two quarters, with printing division IPG down ten percent compared with Q2 2011. For 'professional systems' (Designjet, Scitex and Indigo) that may only be four percent, but it certainly goes some way to explain a headline cut of this nature – and why it's doing so in such a public manner.

Agfa's story is subtly different. With a deeper heritage in areas like computer-to-plate and ink manufacturing raw materials costs hit its balance sheet more profoundly, but its financial results are in line with industry norms. The rationalisation of the Gandinnovations portfolio is complete, reflected by the strong presence of wide-format income on its books, but it must balance this with 'competitive pressure' in other areas. With that in mind, its Ipex decision is rather more of a shock.

"I understand that the decision not to participate at Ipex comes as a surprise," explains Paul Adriaensen, PR manager for Agfa Graphics – which sits on the Ipex advisory committee. "[A] key driver behind the decision not to participate at Ipex is the refocusing of our communication resources towards fast growing, emerging markets like China, south-east Asia and Latin America, and new target customer segments like industrial ink-jet printing which require a different communication and promotion strategy."

But Frank Tueckmantel, vice-president of corporate marketing for EFI – which will use Ipex to showcase its 'full portfolio' of hardware and software – disagrees about geographic reach. "With Ipex relocating to London in 2014, we believe the event will attract more visitors than ever, especially from the European continent, Asia and South America," he says. "Our stand will be nearly eight times the size of our 2010 presence to allow more customers than ever to explore the opportunities of high-value output and improve business efficiencies."

The fact that Landa may (or may not) be reconsidering his spend is an irresponsible non-story in this light, especially given that his new presses will come to market in Q1 2014; it would be foolhardy not to provide them an international platform. EFI joins Canon, Konica Minolta, Xerox, Fujifilm, Duplo, Muller Martini and the usual flotilla of major names to put their cash behind the world-wide appeal of Ipex – which event director Trevor Crawford says represented 48 percent of visitors in 2010, in a pattern which has seen continuous international growth since 1993.

"It's important to put [these moves] into perspective," Crawford comments. "We've only just started the process: we launched at drupa and have 21 months until we open up." Perhaps, then, some exhibitors blew their budgets on drupa? "That's true enough, and it's no different from the last three shows. It was worse off the back of [drupa] 2008 because a lot of the sales recorded didn't come to fruition; we suffered from that quite badly, losing a loft of square meterage, but came through and exceeded everyone's expectations."

There may perhaps be too many shows on the calendar, but Crawford disagrees that Ipex has lost its relevance. "We can't be accused of not being close to our exhibitors or our market, or not developing a show that's in tune with the way business is rolling," he states. "Exhibitors have a choice to go to these shows, or not. Ipex has a fantastic history and it's getting stronger. I don't think our international credentials are arguable with anybody now."

Regardless of whose rhetoric you believe, Ipex is a creditable international event with solid foundations and an exciting new narrative for 2014. With 70 percent of space sold by the end of drupa it would appear that the market believes in its direction, new location and general importance. HP and Agfa are big players and their moves should be paid heed – but my bet is that their peers will redo their calculations, find them true, and focus on 2014 as a key point in their strategic marketing agendas.