HP signs $100 m printing deal with Ford

NEW YORK: Hewlett-Packard Co. said it signed a printing services deal with Ford Motor Co. in its largest-ever imaging and printing services contract.

Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed in Hewlett-Packard's statement, but an HP spokeswoman said the contract was worth more than $100 million and was one of the largest in the industry.

Ford wants to consolidate its printers, copiers and fax machines bought from several companies including Hewlett-Packard and office equipment maker Xerox Corp., to save costs. The automobile manufacturer chose HP over Xerox to be the integrator, HP said.

"Basically HP just took over a bigger piece of the printing infrastructure -- we have a majority of it," HP spokeswoman Katy Doherty said.

A Ford representative was unavailable to comment on the details of the agreement.

Xerox spokeswoman Christa Carone said existing office business her company will lose to HP accounted for less than 20 percent of the value of the contract. She said the area of Xerox's business with Ford that was affected was primarily for copiers and multi-function printers.

"Xerox continues to have a strong relationship with Ford providing production systems and document services, as well as office systems in Canada and Latin America," she said.

Palo Alto, California-based HP said the deal affects some 150,000 users and will use a fleet of printing systems in excess of 15,000 devices in the United States and Europe.

Shares of HP slipped 5 cents to $22.95 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange, while Xerox shares fell 8 cents to $14.20.

© Reuters