NEW YORK: Faced with serious challenges from rivals Dell and Lexmark International, the Hewlett-Packard Co rolled out a line of new printers on Monday. The company claims that these printers are faster than ever and are based on a new ink jet technology.
HP says that these new line of printers are designed to deliver optimum performance to high-volume users without compromising on the efficiency that is the hallmark of HP printers. Announcing these new printers at an analysts briefing, Vyomesh Joshi, executive vice president of HP's imaging and printing division said, "We are introducing a new business printer which will be half the price of comparable laser printers and has substantially lower cost of operation." Mr. Joshi added that using this new breakthrough, HP expects to double its revenues from the printer business over the next decade.
The new technology has been labeled the "scalable printing technology," and reportedly cost the company about $1.4 billion over the last five years. Joshi called this "the master key that unlocks new market opportunities and further growth in our printing business." The first machines based on this new technology are the HP Photosmart 8250 and the HP Officejet Pro K550. The former is designated for home use and can spew up a collection of photos at a faster rate. HP claims that this printer will reduce the cost of per print to 24 cents. The company added that the Photosmart 8250 could print a 4x6 photo in an unbelievable 14 seconds.
The HP Officejet Pro K550 Color Printer is targeted at businesses and apparently lowers the costs of printing by 30 percent as compared t other contemporary printers, "This is the world's fastest desktop color business printer with the lowest cost per page," Mr. Joshi boasted.
Both these printers are fitted with HP's new printer head that is designed as a single unit and tries to perfectly align the ink chamber, nozzles and heating elements. This alignment means that almost 3,900 nozzles are supported on a single printhead. The more the nozzles, the more accurate and faster the print, HP says.
The company also said that it was restructuring the Vivera inks used in the printers in such a manner so as to allow a continuous flow to the nozzles, thereby increasing the speed and print quality. "In these new printheads, you get 93 million drops in a second; 150 million in a second—it blows my mind," said Steve Nigro, the Vice President of Platforms at HP. The printers are also programmed to cancel any operation if sufficient ink is not available, meaning that users will not unnecessarily waste the ink.
The HP Photosmart 8250 will retail for $199*, while the HP Photosmart 3000 All-in-One is priced between $299 to $399*.
* Price subject to change without prior notice.
