HP refreshes its printer strategy
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(InfoWorld) - Hewlett-PackardÂ (HP) Â introduced its revamped print strategy on Tuesday in an effort to bolster the company's lucrative printing business by giving users creative tools and Web-linked capabilities. The product rollout included consumer printers, office printers for SMBs, and the Designjet T1100 MFP for graphic arts professionals. At the high end, HP introduced the Scitex XL2200 Industrial Wide-Format Printer for high-volume commercial printing businesses. HP is also offering a range of software tools for digital content creation and for printing content directly from the Web. The products all aim to give users more creativity in sharing and publishing content, said the executive vice president of HP's imaging and printing group, Vyomesh Joshi, during a press conference in New York. In the past, most users stored content on their PCs and used printers to generate copies of photos and documents. But for customers who now archive their photos online, HP has the Tabblo Print Toolkit software that lets users of the Flickr photo Web site create personalized albums by combining photos and text. Other products include templates for printing business cards and letterhead, and -- coming in October -- a tool called HP Print Studio that will provide free designs for creating greeting cards and party invitations. HP also announced wiki sites for consumers and small businesses. The company is launching these services in an effort to slow a steep decline in printer sales throughout the industry, one analyst said. Printer vendors make nearly all their profit through sales of ink and other consumables, so they need to preserve hardware sales to ensure that demand continues, said Ian Hamilton, an analyst with Current Analysis West. "They're in a situation where they need to find ways to make their customers print more. If you see what's going on in the industry, there are pretty massive declines in the single-function ink sector, and as a whole, the industry is having a lot of struggle," Hamilton said. Printer demand has been shrinking fast in recent years across most sectors. The growth of global unit shipments of inkjet MFPs (multifunction printers) has slowed from 35.3 percent in 2004 to 30.5 percent in 2005 and 19.2 percent in 2006, according to figures from IDC. Sales of laser MFPs and laser single-function printers showed similar trends, while single-function inkjet printers have suffered worst of all with annual global shipments shrinking by 8.4 percent in 2004, 9.6 percent in 2005 and 21.6 percent in 2006, IDC said. That slump has also put a dent in HP's earnings, asÂ the company reported on Aug. 16 that its imaging and printing group had slower growth than any other corporate division, rising 8 percent year-over-year with revenue of $6.7 billion for the third quarter. In comparison, the revenue for HP's software group grew by 74 percent over the same period, and the personal systems group, the division that sells PCs, grew by 29 percent. Despite sluggish growth, the printer division is crucial for HP's financial success. The division generated 26.6 percent of HP's total quarterly revenue of $25.4 billion for the quarter, more than any other segment except the PC group.
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By MATTHEW FORDAHL     SAN JOSE, Calif.  -- New software at Hewlett-Packard Co...
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Hewlett-Packard has unveiled a host of upgrades to its Integrity server product line, including faster Intel Itanium 2 processors, new virtualization capabilities, and new production releases of the OpenVMS and Linux operating systems.
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Eastman Kodak Co.  is introducing a line of desktop printers and low cost replacement inks on Tuesday, as the photography company takes on a market dominated by Hewlett-Packard .
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This manufacturing company replaces a lot of large, high-speed printers in the factory and decides to lease instead of buy. One key requirement: They must be PostScript compatible.
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Hewlett-Packard has dropped plans to beef up its HP-UX operating system with new high availability and clustering technology it obtained in its 2002 acquisition of Compaq. The company will instead shift its development focus to new areas, as it attempts to convince customers that there is still life in its venerable Unix operating system.
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HP is moving outside the corporate realm with a new product line that includes its own branded version of Apple&#39;s iPod digital-music player.
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Hewlett-Packard Co  said  on Monday it is launching a $300 million marketing campaign to  promote Web-based printing services as it seeks new uses for  printers, the company's most-profitable business.
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Hewlett-Packard is boosting its effort to&#160;effectively recycle&#160;used inkjet printer cartridges, Wednesday introducing a new process that manufactures new cartridges from recycled cartridges that are separated and rebuilt from scratch.The &quot;closed loop&quot; process gives used HP inkjet cartridges a sustainable end-of-life value and puts the material back to good use while being environmentally friendly, HP representatives said.The process first breaks down plastic in printer cartridges made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate), after which additives including fibers and resins are used to strengthen and regenerate the plastic. The remolded plastic is then used to manufacture new HP inkjet cartridges.The plastics or cartridges are not melted, refilled, resold, or sent to a landfill, HP said. The process also applies to other products, like PET water bottles, HP representatives said.The process, which went into pilot in 2005, has already resulted in HP manufacturing 200 million printer cartridges, said Scott Canonico, manager of environmental policy and strategy for HP supplies. The process will go into full manufacturing now, he said.Each inkjet cartridge contains 70 percent to 100 percent recycled material. Users will find the process beneficial as cartridges with new material perform better than used or refilled cartridges, Canonico said.HP allows users to return inkjet cartridges worldwide for free in most cases through its recycling program , said Ken Fleming, marketing director of supplies for HP. In some cases, a postage-paid return envelope is provided by HP with the inkjet print cartridge box.The process will apply only to HP cartridges, the company said. No external inkjet cartridge brand is being put through the new recycling process, Canonico said.Before the implementation of the new process, not all plastic recovered went into making new cartridges, Canonico said. They were used by others to manufacture products including auto parts and toys.The company has already recycled 1 billion pounds of hardware&#160;and hopes to recycle 2 billion&#160;pounds by 2010, Canonico said. HP offers recycling options for hardware including PCs, cell phones and computers.The inkjet cartridge recycling initiative is the latest in HP&#39;s broad effort to be environmentally friendly. HP recently announced that it would implement more energy-efficient technologies across its PC lines to reduce computer energy use by 25 percent in 2010.Recycling is one way to go green, Canonico said. &quot;We&#39;re always looking to further our commitment to customers and our commitment to the public and environment,&quot; Canonico said.While achieving the closed loop process was an achievement, HP will continue to look for new ways to better recycle products, Canonico said.
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Hewlett-Packard will introduce Print 2.0, the companyâs strategy for making printing relevant in an increasingly Web-centric world.
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Kodak returns to the full-size printer market with three photo-oriented all-in-ones and competitively priced ink.
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Hewlett-Packard plans to use inkjet printing to enter a range of new markets, such as television and computer displays, printed electronic circuits, and automotive fuel-injection systems.
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MacCentral - Hewlett-Packard Co. is unveiling a broad new line of consumer electronics products and peripherals, including its first plasma and LCD TVs, new inks that purportedly print long-lasting photos, new paper, a clutch of printers and multifunction devices, and a home theater projector with an integrated DVD player.
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Hewlett-Packard Co., aiming to beef up its erratic enterprise computing business with new products, said Monday it is launching new high-end and mid-range server-computers and related software and services early this week.
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Hewlett-Packard is beefing up its Integrity BladeSystems with a new model released this week thatâs intended to handle memory and CPU intensive applications.
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Eastman Kodak Co.  introduced a  line of desktop printers on Tuesday that use low-cost  replacement ink cartridges, entering a market dominated by  Hewlett-Packard Co.
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Hewlett-Packard is spending $300 million on an ad campaign to 'make printing relevant and meaningful.'