HP Promotes Color Printers, Cameras

Hewlett-Packard has unveiled several new products and partners in a move intended to help bring rich digital color into consumers' photographs and small businesses' marketing materials at a lower cost.

Most people prefer color images, but high-quality color laser printers have been too expensive for many small businesses and home photographers, said Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president for HP's Imaging and Printing group, at the product introduction Wednesday. New laser printers, digital cameras, and even paper will help small businesses spice up their presentations and brochures with affordable color images, he said.

Budget Color Printing

The HP Color LaserJet 2550 is HP's first color laser printer priced under $500, with a estimated list price of $499. This product will allow small businesses to bring sophisticated color printing jobs back in-house and save money on external printing costs, Joshi said.

HP also announced a color laser printer, the HP Color LaserJet 4650, that costs $1799 and can print up to 22 color pages a minute. It's faster than all but one of HP's Color LaserJet printers and is the fastest Color LaserJet priced under $2000. The company introduced new paper for documents, postcards, and address labels designed especially for its new color laser printers.

For consumers, HP now offers the $99 HP PSC 1315 all-in-one inkjet printer, copier, and scanner designed to print digital images, such as the ones captured by HP's new 5.1-megapixel Photosmart R707 digital camera, priced at $349.

Applications in the Works

The company's renewed focus on digital color extends beyond new products. HP also plans to work with imaging companies such as Adobe Systems, Apple, Microsoft, and Quark on new software with improved color management technology. The focus is on applications to help consumers and businesses edit digital images and publish documents.

Just about every PC company has focused on products and services outside the core PC market as it has matured. HP's historical strength in printing and imaging has led it to emphasize digital photography over other consumer electronics products such as music players or digital televisions touted by companies such as Apple, Dell, and Gateway.

The Imaging and Printing group at HP is generally its most profitable business. In the second quarter of this year, its $953 million in operating profit accounted for the vast majority of HP's total operating profit of $1.4 billion.

Dell's recent push into the printer market has caused some analysts to wonder if Dell can harm HP's printer margins with its less-expensive products. In response, HP has emphasized its research and development efforts into new enterprise printing products, such as the focus on digital color highlighted in Wednesday's announcements.