After half a century building market share in heatset, newspaper and general printing, Japanese maker Mitsubishi has announced it will stop building presses.

The company – Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to give its full name – had a strong presence in high-circulation newspaper markets such as Japan and India.

Among customers is Indian publisher Malayala Manorama, which followed the installation of five Mitsubishi DiamondSpirit-SA newspaper presses with an order for two more in 2016. Chief editor and managing director Mammen Mathew spoke at the time of the high print quality, reduced waste and productivity of its Mitsubishi presses. They also provided excellent after sales support, “and we had no hesitation in placing the order for two more presses at a very competitive price,” he said.

Press design has been focussed on colour quality and high productivity, as well as low running costs through reduced waste, faster make-ready, reduced manning and less maintenance, with a choice of folders from 3:2 rotary folders to 2:3:3 and 2:5:5 jaw folders running from 70,000 to 90,000 iph.

Staffing has been run down following a preliminary announcement in June, and a full closure will follow the completion of outstanding orders.

The decision to leave the market follows falling print circulations as readers and advertisers move to digital. In Japan, print circulations are reported to have fallen 38 per cent over a decade to fewer than 29 million papers last year.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries says it will continue to support users, but the “one-sided decision” to close has been criticised by customers including 763,000 daily Hokkaido Shimbun, which said it “can’t possibly accept (the closure).” Based in Sapporo, it had installed three MHI presses following a 2017 order.

Another major user, the six-million-circulation Yomiuri Shimbun, with about 40 presses, described the exit as “very unfortunate”. It is however, pragmatic about the decision provided repairs and other services continue.

There has been speculation about how publishers will survive, but with few talking about new orders, it seems likely local competitor Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho will be happy to oblige.