THE NEWS IN PRINT

For the past few quarters, HP's revenue was heading downward. They had to do something extraordinary to stay ahead of its competitors. Its printing, imaging and PC market picked up while the other sectors have either dipped or reported no major progress from the last quarter.

HP reported revenue of $26bn for the quarter, notching a 13 per cent year-over-year jump. Revenue increased 10 per cent year-over-year in constant currency. PCs, printers and x86 servers all did their part during the quarter with sales and profits elevating in all three areas.

HP has taken many customer-friendly measures in all sectors but PCs and Printing have tasted success. In the printing sector, HP took notable measures to reduce the prices of cartridges. Further, they have colour coded all their ink cartridges to help users identify the cartridges of their choice.

The imaging and printing unit enjoyed a 6 per cent revenue rise to $7.2bn and turned a $1.2bn profit.

via The Register

This is the concluding part of the sequel which had two previous posts. This is by far the most interesting of all three as it doesn't involve any percentages. I promise you that there will be some guilty readers when the crux of this post is revealed.

Flashback: I had talked about a survey conducted by Kodak to find home printing patterns. The outcome was more or less on the expected lines as many home printer users refrained from printing a lot owing to ink prices. But, instead they worked around to print personal documents at work.

Here is a dose of psychology by Dr.Will who categorizes home printer owners into three categories; squirrels, squids or snakes. Based on his psychology expertise and results from the survey, these ink types are characterized by the following:
-- Squirrels: Conscientiously concerned about conserving ink
-- Squids: Not concerned about wasting ink; strong likelihood to print whatever, whenever
-- Snakes: Printing personal documents away from home or having others print for them

What are you?

I am sure there are lots of snakes who are quietly but attentively keeping a watch on the office printer, waiting for the printer noise to stop so they can send in their print commands. At the same time, hoping that the squids and snakes would evolve into squirrels someday. If you love our environment, print less and print only the essentials.

via Yahoo Biz

The technology of building PCBs and Microchips from DeskJet/inkjet printers are fast becoming a popular trend and a technology that would revolutionize the electronics industry. Orbotech, a supplier of hi-tech inspection and imaging solutions for printed circuit boards and flat panel displays based out of Europe, has signed an agreement to purchase New System Srl, a private company that develops PCBs from inkjet printers.

Mr. Rani Cohen, CEO of Orbitech stated: 'The integration of New System into Orbotech will capitalize on the best of both companies' competencies. Our complementary technologies, products and operations will provide a comprehensive imaging offering enabling customers to achieve higher yields, better production efficiencies and a greater return on investment.'.

This acquisition will help Orbotech enter the digital imaging market in which the company will invest in synergistic areas that would leverage its core technologies and expertise. This acquisition will be a big boost to the number of opportunities that will be presented to the company.

via Press Release

How do people satisfy their hunger of printing personal documents if they can't afford ink cartridges or if they do not wish to spend on it? Very simple, use office printers. The era of sneaking pen and other stationery has transformed into ink sneaking in the offices today. In my previous post, I talked about the reduced consumption of printing at homes as a resultant of steep ink prices; here's a workaround scripted, acted and directed by home printer users themselves.

60% of office goers who own a printer at home print personal documents at offices with 70% of them claiming to print personal documents after office hours. More than half of them print at offices citing the prices while the rest have blamed the printing speed.

What are ink sneaks printing? The survey reports that maps and directions (60%) and online research or web site information (49%) are the two types of personal printing documents most often inked at work. Other personal printing done on the job include:
-- Personal office correspondence (42%)
-- Travel itineraries (42%)
-- Articles from online news sources (35%)
-- Photos (20%); Recipes (18%), Online shopping receipts (17%)

It is pathetic that co-workers who witness the horrendous crime of printing personal documents at work don't bother to inform the people in charge.

The concluding part to this sequel is interesting and is based on individuals rather a sample.

via Yahoo Biz

Kodak has hired Braun Research, a private marketing and public opinion research firm to get the inside story on home printing. Recently Kodak had also hired professional testers to test the price of printing for each page using different printers and inks. This time the research is not aimed at glorifying Kodak but to obtain virtual publicity by taking credit for the survey.

A survey conducted in the United States reveals that 50% of the home printer users would print more if the ink was cheaper. 60% of the respondents felt that the printer ink was expensive and they try not to waste it. It may be a good thing for the environment that the expensive inks are conserving paper; it doesn't matter how our environment is protected, as long as they are protected.

The survey also reveals sacrifice, compromise and even sneaking around in the name of ink savings, such as:
-- Printing in black and white to conserve color ink (59%)
-- Printing in "draft" or "economy" mode (33%)
-- Denying themselves a hardcopy all together - choosing to view things on screen instead of printing (57%)
-- Avoid printing photos (30%)
-- Printing at other locations, such as a friend's house (25%)

The survey might have been conducted in the US but I am absolutely sure that a similar response would be obtained if the same was conducted in the UK and Europe. There is a sequel to this post; next up will be how home printers satisfy their craving of needing to print more and more.

via Yahoo Biz