May 25th, 2010
Hewlett-Packard Co is preparing a broad push to make it easier to print images and information from the Internet, building an iPhone-style apps market in the process.
HP late last year introduced its first Web-connected home printer, which has a touch screen, which can download applications so that a user could more easily print out for example, a daily crossword puzzle or children’s coloring page without using a separate computer.
A new Web printing initiative was in the works but declined to say when or what it would be. However, he said the first Web-connected printer would be followed by more. HP plans to take advantage of Web OS software in its printers when it completes it previously announced acquisition of Palm Inc. The initiative would not be limited to consumer products.
HP has planned for years to make it easier to print from the Web, but Joshi said it was difficult to keep up with the pace of Internet growth. Printing — and the all important sales of ink — are a key source of profit for HP. The imaging and printing group accounted for about a fifth of sales and a third of operating profit last year.
Web pages also tend to be in color and quite dense — so they consume a lot of the ink supplies that help HP’s bottom line. Although HP is the largest PC maker, Joshi said that bundling printers and PCs was not good business. Many bundled printers were never taken out of the box.
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