HP:EXECUTIVEs QUEST FOR INK

[Anonymous]

http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/05/22/h-p-executives-quest-for-ink/
H-P Executive’s Quest for Ink
Hewlett-Packard
has long had an enviable franchise in ink cartridges for the printers
it sells to consumers. Vyomesh (”VJ”) Joshi, the technology giant’s
printer chief, now says the big new money is elsewhere.VJ_JoshiDuring a
sit-down to discuss an eco-marketing campaign announced Thursday, Joshi
noted he is focusing more on commercial clients who buy “gallons of
ink”–such as large companies and commercial print shops–rather than the
cubic centimeters of ink that consumer machines use. “It’s not about
the cartridge. It’s about the ink now,” Joshi told the Business
Technology Blog.To court such business customers, Joshi is in the midst
of repositioning his division to focus on products such as large-format
printers that can make signs, books and newspapers. One potential
concern–at least for environmentally sensitive firms–is the ecological
impact of their printing activity.

Hence, the enviro-friendly
program announced Thursday, which includes a program that will allow
businesses to calculate the carbon footprint of their printer
operations (and how that footprint could be reduced by buying new H-P
printers). The announcement also includes a $45 printer sold at
Wal-Mart and made largely of recycled plastic.Joshi’s printing division
brought in $7.6 billion for the quarter that ended April 30 and now
gets about 50% of its sales from its 2,400 biggest customers. He’s
increasingly trying to associate H-P services with those machines–a
timely theme in view of the company’s $13.25 deal to buy Electronic
Data Systems.

While Joshi wouldn’t get into specifics of how his
existing print services could be integrated with EDS (which has a long
business relationship with H-P print rival Xerox), he said H-P
salespeople are trying to show companies how they can save energy costs
by getting all their printers onto a corporate network. And about 30%
of the clients who have such networks want H-P to run them, he added.
“EDS is going to be a big opportunity for us,” he said

[Author]

May 29, 2008 at 2:47 PM