http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090622-715140.html
To Spur Printer Sales, H-P Takes A Cue From Apple
HP teams with Google, Fandango for Web-connected touch-screen printer
SAN
FRANCISCO -Hewlett Packard Co.’s printing division seems to have taken
a cue from the Apple Inc. iPhone.H-P on Monday introduced a
Web-connected home printer, the $399 Photosmart Premium, which uses its
Internet connection to download software programs or “apps” in order to
add new customizable printing features.Gannett Co. Inc.’s USA Today
newspaper, Google Inc.and DreamWorks Animation will be among the first
companies to provide apps for the printer later this year, when the
Web-based “HP Apps Studio” opens, H-P announced.If the set-up sounds
familiar, it is. Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple perfected a similar
business tactic, in which it distributes software to support sales of a
device. The latest incarnation is the Apple iPhone smartphone and its
companion online App Store, which 50,000-plus programs to download.
The
move is the latest by H-P to right its struggling printing division,
which provides about 21% of H-P’s revenue. The division’s fiscal
second-quarter revenue declined 23% from a year ago to $5.9 billion on
plummeting printer sales.Vyometh Joshi, H-P executive vice president,
called the new printer, and its app store “an entirely new printing
platform.””By giving people access to the content they want at the
touch of a finger, we are driving a significant shift in how people
will be printing in the future,” he added.