''HP will invest $60 million to drive color mainstream to all businesses and drive color leadership in APac''

Color will be all-pervasive in the business environment, believes Micheal
Hoffmann. Propelling this movement in the APac region, he tells Channels India
about myths surrounding the adoption of color printing in the enterprise
segment. And adds that once these are dispelled, businesses will incorporate
more photos and graphics than ever before in proposals, marketing collaterals
and more.

What is your goal for the current fiscal?

We want to create yet another major milestone in our business imaging and
printing strategy that will set HP to drive color imaging and printing
mainstream in 2004. Color will be the focus this year; especially taking it to
the corporate environment.

We believe that we are well poised to do this because we are investing
heavily in focused innovation for color machines that offer real value for
high-end business needs. Similarly for customers who want low-cost products, we
have affordable technology that offers them best returns on investment. We will
invest $1 billion in printing R&D worldwide.

But it is well-known that color is going to take over most monochrome
color applications. Why then is HP suddenly making an issue about it?

As early as 1994, HP introduced its first color LaserJet printer. Even then,
we knew that color is the future.

So, it is not that we are suddenly waking up to the fact that color is where
printing applications are headed. We are only trying to increase the user
awareness that color is now available at cheaper rates and is ideal for their
needs.

How will color printing truly make a difference in a company's business
operations?

Today, enterprises are struggling to remain competitive while performing on
a tight budget. They are doing business in lean economic times and have to
maximize return on IT investments.

These are some of the challenges that face an enterprise's printing
environment. But, all these can be tackled if they invest in a color printer.
And this is the point that we are trying to drive home.

Which are some of the segments that solution providers can target with
your printing devices?

4% of the 18 trillion pages of materials printed yearly in the home and
office are printed using HP technology. As we set our sights on broadening the
adoption of color, we'll look to expand the types of materials printed in
color to include, forms, catalogs, brochures, professional materials, magazines,
and more.

There's a huge market to drive color mainstream. We have demarcated them
into three segments: imaging, convergence and publishing. In imaging, partners
can target any enterprise that print magazines, newspapers, books, reference
matter, directories or even packaging media. The publishing segments are
organizations which print brochures, catalogues or forms. The convergence
segment is made up of homes and offices, where the printing needs are on-demand
and not routine.

If color is indeed the future, then why are enterprises shying of adopting
it pervasively?

There are several myths that surround the adoption of color. Since its
introduction in the 1990s, color printing has been perceived as expensive,
complex, slow and the devices as too big and difficult to use.

But recent technological advancements in color printing and imaging are
changing the way we print, the value we place on documents, what we print and
why we print, and therefore, the perception of color printing.

As a result, color printing is transforming today's business processes, as
well as how business relationships are built and revenue is generated to help
businesses grow.

Now, we have to work at getting these old perceptions out of the way and get
businesses of all sizes to rethink why, how and where they need to leverage
color for the office.

And how do you aim to achieve this?

First, we want to highlight that acquisition prices for color lasers have
declined as much as 20% annually. Today business customers can purchase color
lasers as low as $499 and business inkjet printers for as low as $199. This
change allows small business customers to purchase color devices for up to $100
more than the cost of mono and look as professional and as big as their
competition.

In addition to significant declines in acquisition costs, TCO and cost per
page are also decreasing. Businesses can now print in color for as low as 2
cents per page on an HP business inkjet printer, a 66% decline, since 1993.

Color is no longer slow. With in-line color laser as fast as mono in speed
and performance, and business inkjet printers nearly as fast as laser, color
materials can be printed quickly, easily, and more affordably than ever before.

Due to breakthroughs in ease-of-use, color is closer to offering a 'mono-like'
experience. Recent technological advancements in high-end color lasers like the
HP LJ 9500 have resulted in output quality similar to offset at half the price.
With technology downsizing, color printers can fit neatly on the desktop.

Lastly, savvy consumers are bringing their home digital photo expertise into
the office. As a result, analysts are forecasting that businesses will
incorporate more photos and graphics than ever before in proposals, marketing
collaterals and more.

VINITA BHATIA IN SINGAPORE