Dell Expands Printer Lineup

LAS VEGAS -- Dell has signed partnerships with Eastman Kodak, Fuji Xerox, and Samsung Electronics to "significantly" expand its lineup of imaging and printing products, the company says.

New products are planned for later this year, Dell executives said in a presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show here. Dell did not disclose details of planned products or of the agreements with the three technology companies.

The ties with Kodak, Fuji Xerox, and Samsung add to Dell's existing relationship with Lexmark International, the company said. Dell last year started selling printers manufactured by Lexmark with a Dell brand.

Product Plans

"We don't just limit ourselves to one partner," Dell Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Dell said. "These companies have a great array of technologies that Dell will now have access to, and you will see some great products as a result of these partnerships over the next year."

Since the first Dell printers started selling in March, nearly 2 million Dell printers have been sold, said John Hamlin, senior vice president and general manager of Dell's U.S. consumer business, in the same presentation. "We are very proud of what we have been able to accomplish in a very short time," he said.

Dell underlined the importance of the consumer electronics market for the company but did not provide details as to which new product areas the company plans to enter. "We have some fairly simple criteria for evaluating new markets. We'd like to see markets that are standardizing and that are large and profitable," he said.

Smart Move?

Adding new partners will help Dell compete with imaging and printing market leader Hewlett-Packard, says Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, a San Jose, California-based consulting firm specializing in emerging technologies.

"HP has one area they can clearly trump Dell and that is in printing and imaging. Lexmark alone simply isn't strong enough to counter this," Enderle says. Dell is now adding other partners to capture their top products and construct a competitive offering, he adds.

Whether Dell can be successful selling printers from multiple vendors hinges on whether it can deliver related supplies in an efficient manner, Enderle says. "It depends on how attractive the direct model is for printer supplies," he says.

His company has proven that the direct selling model works for printers, Dell says.

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