HP to revive inkjet printer business, redefines digital entertainment

SINGAPORE: HP is trying to revive the inkjet printer business with a new ink-based printing platform, known as Scalable Printing Technology (SPT).

The company has launched a host of products based on this revolutionary technology in the Consumer Fall Launch, a regional event opened at Singapore today. Also unveiled was its digital entertainment solution-HP Pavilion Media Center PC. These products would be made available across the globe by October 2005, said company sources.

HP is presently targeting the home and small & medium businesses segments with the new print products, offering high benchmarking speeds, superior print quality and low-cost per page for both consumers and businesses.

"With the new scalable technology, we are able to offer world-class products at a very reasonable price across the industry segments and this a result of HP's five years initiative, investing over USD 1.4 billion in this program," said Chris Morgan, Senior Vice President, Imaging and Printing Group, HP Asia Pacific and Japan.

Though, digital printing marketshare is estimated at five percent presently worldwide, the company expects the future to be there as more and more users across the globe are moving from analog to digital.

HP showcased the first printers built on the new Scalable Printing Technology, which include the world's fastest home photo printing devices that can produce 4 x 6-inch photos in as fast as 14 seconds and desktop color business printer, which enables small and medium-sized businesses to print up to twice the speed and 30 percent lower cost-per-page than color laser printers.

"Today marks a milestone in HP's 21-year printing history and raises the bar for price/performance around printing in the home, office and for the entire industry in digital prints," said Chris Morgan. However, he said, the company would continue its focus and leadership in the laser segment too.

HP claims that its new technology is a breakthrough in the architecture and manufacturing of the inkjet printhead, resulting not only in offering low-cost product but with high speed.

As the new platform is scalable, the company is able to address the diverse needs of the printing market, from high-volume consumer users and small to medium-sized businesses all the way up to the commercial market, such as on- and offline print kiosks.

The HP Photosmart 8230 and 3000 (All-in-One series) printers feature six ink cartridges with new HP Vivera ink formulations and a separate printhead, producing quality photos and crisp text.

The HP Officejet Pro K550 color printer series is designed to deliver superior color and laser-like quality text - all at up to twice the print speed of competitive color laser printers. The other revolutionary products showcased at the event include HP Photosmart 475, HP Photosmart 8030, HP Photosmart 7850, HP Photosmart 2575 All-in-One, HP Scanjet 4890 and 4850.

(The travel for the story is sponsored by HP)