HP's big bang: Largest-ever roll out of multifunction printers

SAN FRANCISCO

OCTOBER 3, 2006

HP today announced its largest-ever rollout of multifunction printers, which
are aimed at replacing copiers in businesses of all sizes. Launching the new
products, Vyomesh Joshi, Executive VP (IPG), HP, said, “In November 2003 we
had talked about going after the high-end copier market. Now I would say that we
will continue to go after the copier destruction market.”

HP's new multifunction printer lineup adds to the HP LaserJet portfolio,
which offers a wide set of options for both enterprise and small- to mid-size
business customers. All the new MFPs are available with localized control panels
in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean and Japanese. The new models
include: LaserJet M3035, LaserJet M4345, LaserJet M5035, and LaserJet CM1015

LaserJet M3035 is a compact, affordable work team MFP that delivers 35 pages
per minute with exceptional output and a convenient stapler. It would be
available at a price of $1,999. LaserJet M4345 offers printing, copying,
optional faxing and advanced digital sending with paper handling, finishing and
the HP Easy Select Control Panel. This would be priced at $2,599

LaserJet M5035 is HP's first and the industry's fastest desktop,
wide-format MFP. Pricing will start at $3,999. LaserJet CM1015 is the world's
smallest color laser MFP and will start under $500.

HP also introduced the monochrome LaserJet P3005 series, which is ideal for
document-intensive, small work team environments requiring high-quality printing
with low maintenance. Pricing will start at $549.

In addition to the rollout of the new range, HP IPG also reiterated its
seriousness about the enterprise space. Towards this effect, it bolstered its
enterprise imaging and printing product portfolio and strategy, including plans
to increase the size and expertise of its sales force, to provide customers with
unprecedented levels of service, information and business insight.

As part of the announcement, the company shared its plans to make new
investments in enterprise services and solutions and unveiled a new ink-based
printing technology-HP Edgeline-specially designed to handle the high-volume
workloads of businesses. Printers using this technology feature printheads that
span the width of a page, so only the paper moves, not the printheads. This
allows print jobs to be completed in one pass, quickly and precisely with
excellent quality.

As part of a revitalized approach to make it easier to do business with HP,
the company plans to hire hundreds of highly skilled sales consultants who will
be dedicated to the company's top 2,300 accounts. These experts will engage
customers in conversations that go beyond simple cost cutting to understanding
how to apply the information enabled by the imaging and printing devices on the
network to build competitive advantage.

HP's strategy includes establishing teams of specialists that can address
customers' broad business environments as well as their specific IT and
end-user challenges. In addition to an account manager, each team will include
specialists in technology, services and business processes with knowledge of the
workflows, vertical applications and HP capabilities relevant to their
customer's specific needs-whether it is helping to optimize their
infrastructure, manage their environment or improve their business workflows.

Finally, HP plans to tailor some of the more than 30 imaging and printing
solutions within its portfolio to build industry-specific offerings for major
vertical markets in the public and commercial sectors. Delivering proven
expertise to new customers, the vertical solutions will address critical
business needs such as improving processes, operational efficiencies, cost
savings and revenue.

“By leveraging our strengths in IT and our expertise in imaging and
printing, HP is best-positioned to capture, manage and deliver the intelligence
that enterprise customers need to improve their business processes,”
elaborated Joshi. “This is not only about cutting costs. It's about using
HP's services and solutions to help customers manage business information more
efficiently, to gain productivity and a competitive advantage.”

The first-of-its-kind design architecture of HP Edgeline technology uses
page-wide printheads to distribute ink rapidly and precisely in one pass. With
the versatility and scalability to meet many customer needs, the technology will
allow HP to expand its printer business into markets such as high-volume office
printing, industrial printing and retail printing solutions, which together will
represent an estimated $30 billion-plus market opportunity by 2009.

Early next year, HP plans to unveil this patented technology in the first
device that combines the benefits of ink and laser. The company expects the
products using this technology to redefine business printing with some of the
best printing speeds, operating costs and reliability in its class while
providing excellent text and graphics print quality using specially formulated
HP Vivera inks.

(Travel for this story was sponsored by HP)