2.5 Million Photo Books and Calendars in Two Months: Leading Photo Services Print Record Volume Using HP Indigo Presses

Palo Alto, Calif. (PRWEB) March 8, 2007 -- HP today announced that more than 2.5 million photo books and calendars were printed worldwide on HP Indigo presses during the 2006 holiday season(1).



With more than 240 HP Indigo presses installed at customer sites producing photo specialty products around the world, HP Indigo customers produced more than 7 million photo books and calendars, totaling approximately 440 million digital photo pages, during the 2006 calendar year.

“This record-breaking holiday season reflects the fact that HP Indigo technology, which offers the industry’s highest image quality and unsurpassed reliability, is the preferred digital publishing solution in the photo specialty market, answering customers’ needs even in peak production times,” said Alon Bar-Shany, vice president and general manger, Indigo Division, HP. “As one of the fastest-growing segments of the digital printing industry, we expect greater growth in 2007 by continuing to add value in present and future technologies for the creation of photo merchandise products.”

The preferred digital press solution of leading photo services worldwide, HP works with many of the world’s leading photo services to provide them with the tools and resources to capitalize on the growing opportunities that photo merchandise printing offers. The 2006 holiday season was a prime example of how consumers are looking to transform personal digital photographs into meaningful printed products and share their experiences.

Customers that experienced high growth during this time period include:
•    Asukanet Co. Ltd.: Since 1995, Asukanet has been creating digital photo collection products for Japan’s professional photographers. Using HP Indigo presses, the company produces more than 200,000 coffee-table style books annually for Japanese customers. Asukanet is widely endorsed by professional photographers and graphic designers because of the quality of its products.
•    District Photo: As one of the largest wholesale photofinishing labs in the U.S., District Photo services many of the nation’s major photo retailers. The company, which is based in Beltsville, Md., offers a range of photo merchandise products produced on a fleet of HP Indigo presses installed within the past 18 months, becoming one of the top producers of HP Indigo-printed photo books, calendars and greeting cards worldwide.
•    Proven Direct: This Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based print service provider established its Proven Pictures subsidiary after integrating the expanded file processing capabilities of the new HP Indigo Scalable RIP Solution (SRS) with its five HP Indigo presses. Now, the company serves leading independent photo retailers, offering turnkey photo book, calendar and folded greeting card production. In only its first few months of operation, Proven Pictures accounted for more than 10 percent of the company’s overall annual revenue.
•    Snapfish by HP: Snapfish by HP, which sells photo books and calendars printed on HP Indigo presses, experienced rapid growth of its popular photo merchandise items during the holiday peak season. In 2007, the company is looking to further its impressive growth by continuing to offer new, creative products both online and in retail stores.

PMA, the leading association for the photo industry, forecasts that the photo merchandise market is expected to more than double in size in the next two years and is approaching $1 billion in sales(2).

“The digital photography revolution has led to new uses for images, creating new direction and great opportunities in the photo merchandise market,” said Gary Pageau, Group Executive, Content Development and Strategic Initiatives, Photo Marketing Association International. “Meeting demand for photo books, calendars, cards and other products will be one of the most significant revenue opportunities for photo services in the near future.”

HP Indigo’s customer list for photo merchandise production continues to expand with multiple presses at U.S. firms such as photo services District Photo, Beltsville, Md., and Shutterfly, Redwood City, Calif., as well as at one-to-one marketing and photo services providers R&R Images, Phoenix, Ariz.; and Rastar, Salt Lake City. Leading international photo merchandise firms with HP Indigo presses include photo service provider Asukanet Co. Ltd., Hiroshima, Japan; photo retailer Bowie Castlebank, Glasgow, Scotland; photofinisher CeWe Color Holding AG, Oldenburg, Germany; photo book and yearbook firm Embassy Digital, Oakville, Canada; and online retailers Harrier, Newton Abbot, UK; Hofmann, Valencia, Spain; and Photoways, Sartrouville, France.

HP Indigo’s end-to-end photo solutions, which include consumer-driven design, streamlined workflow, and efficient binding for photo applications coupled with industry-leading photo print quality, are key motivators for customers selecting HP Indigo digital presses.

The HP Indigo presses 5000 and w3250, along with specialized digital front end, software and media for the photo merchandise market, enable imaginative, personalized, high-value products that are both affordable to the customer and profitable for the photo service firm. Additionally, later this year, HP will begin offering six-color photo merchandise imaging, adding new Light Cyan and Light Magenta inks to the traditional CMYK color set for smoother skin tones and tone transition as well as enhanced overall photo quality.

A brochure on photo merchandise printing with HP Indigo presses can be downloaded here. For more information on HP graphic arts solutions, visit www.hp.comgographicarts.

About HP
HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers – from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world’s largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $94.1 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2007. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.

1 2006 holiday season includes November and December 2006.
2 PMA Marketing Research and Photo Marketing magazine, PMA Photobook report, June 2006.

© 2007 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. 3/2007

Editorial contacts:
Reade Longino Tidwell
Porter Novelli for HP
+1 404 995 4547

David Lindsay
Porter Novelli for HP
+1 404 995 4577

# # #