Preview event for drupa trade show highlights a new, environmentally responsible large-format alternative, a new HP Inkjet Web Press and three new HP Indigo presses

TEL AVIV, Israel (Billboard Publicity Wire via Business Wire EON) March 10, 2008 -- HP today announced a landmark release of graphic arts technologies and products that improve the speed and reduce the cost of digital printing.

Today's announcements further cement HP's leadership in the graphic arts market, accelerate the analog-to-digital conversion and propel digital technology as a mainstream product offering

The rollout – the company’s most extensive graphic arts push to date – supports HP’s Print 2.0 strategy to capture more digital pages from the analog print market and enable printing customers to take advantage of new market segments and business opportunities.

Spanning high-speed inkjet production, offset- and photo-quality liquid electrophotographic printing as well as large-format printing, the new offerings will be featured at drupa, the world’s largest printing equipment exhibition, in HP’s booth in Hall 8A, May 29-June 11, in Düsseldorf, Germany.

New products and technologies are being previewed this week at a Tel Aviv event for customers, partners, press and analysts. Highlights include:

• A high-speed 30-inch (762-mm) inkjet platform for high-volume production of books, transactional/transpromotional mail, direct marketing materials and newspapers.
• New HP Latex Printing Technologies that offer an environmentally responsible large-format printing alternative for a wide variety of outdoor and indoor applications.
• An expanded portfolio of HP Indigo presses, including the new HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press designed for high-volume print service providers and enhancements to the market-leading HP Indigo press 5500.
• The company’s first-ever graphic arts workflow portfolio – the HP SmartStream Digital Workflow Portfolio – which offers customers greater flexibility with specific solutions to address a broad range of market segments and application needs.

These solutions and others bolster HP’s efforts to target the estimated $663 billion print production page value opportunity projected for 2010.(1)

“Today’s announcements further cement HP’s leadership in the graphic arts market, accelerate the analog-to-digital conversion and propel digital technology as a mainstream product offering,” said Stephen Nigro, senior vice president, Graphics and Imaging Business, HP. “These new technologies and products will change the digital printing industry in terms of value, volume and environmental footprint.”

Positioned to build demand for digital applications, HP’s Graphic Arts portfolio offers a variety of alternatives to traditional printing technologies that will empower print service providers to achieve profitable growth. The company’s 50-plus graphic arts solutions comprise the industry’s largest all-digital portfolio, one that can be used to print in virtually any format, from postage stamps to building wraps.

Several of the newly announced products incorporate HP Scalable Printing Technology, a proprietary inkjet technology that enables the creation of high-performance color print devices capable of delivering reliability and low operating costs, as well as laser-quality text, crisp graphics, brilliant images and fast print speeds.

World’s first 30 inch-wide production inkjet platform

Leveraging its $1.4 billion investment in Scalable Printing Technology, HP introduced the HP Inkjet Web Press, a high-speed, high-volume color digital printing platform that increases productivity and lowers the cost of printing for the high-volume commercial market.

The Web Press, which is expected to be commercially available in the first half of 2009, is designed to revitalize wasteful, low-margin, analog-driven printing processes by offering an unprecedented combination of print width, color quality, productivity and cost for graphic arts industry professionals in the direct mail, transactional and transpromotional printing, book publishing and newspaper industries.

Capable of printing in full color on rolls up to 30 inches wide at 400 feet per minute (122 m/min.), the HP Inkjet Web Press is compatible with a wide range of uncoated media to enable efficient printing of book signatures, full broadsheet newspapers and other documents.

New large-format signage/display platform

Designed with the environment in mind, HP Latex Printing Technologies offer print service providers a compelling alternative to traditional large-format printing methods.

New water-based HP Latex Inks produce odorless prints(2) and offer high-quality, consistent performance on a broad range of HP and non-HP large-format media. Coupled with HP Thermal Inkjet Technology, HP Latex Inks additionally provide durable output, with outdoor prints achieving display permanence up to three years unlaminated;(3) sharp, vivid image quality; broad outdoor and indoor application versatility; high productivity; and, a low total impact on the environment.

New HP Wide Scan Printing Technology has been designed together with HP Latex Inks to deliver high-speed, quality printing. The first HP printers using HP Latex Printing Technologies are to be announced at drupa in May.

Increased production and profits – available at drupa with HP Indigo

HP unveiled a new generation of print engine that uses its industry-leading liquid electrophotographic process, which produces the true offset- and photo-quality results of HP Indigo digital production presses. Three new HP Indigo models – the HP Indigo 7000, HP Indigo W7200 and HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Presses – all offer faster speeds and greater productivity than current models to deliver significant improvements in break-even costs compared to analog print technologies.

The first of these new presses available to the market will be the HP Indigo 7000 Digital Press in June, which cost-effectively and efficiently produces large numbers of static jobs with run lengths ranging from one copy into the thousands. It also produces variable-data work requiring the “every page is different” capabilities of digital. The press runs at speeds up to 120 four-color pages per minute for highly efficient throughput and industry-leading quality in general commercial printing, photo merchandise production and other high-volume applications.

The HP Indigo WS6000 and W7200 models are highly productive, web-fed digital presses designed for industrial and commercial applications, respectively. The WS6000 model, a label and packaging press expected to be available in early 2009, offers twice the speed and productivity of the successful HP Indigo ws4500 press and is targeted at labels and packaging converters with significant volumes of medium- and short-run jobs.(4) Ideal for high-quality dedicated publishing, direct mail and transactional/transpromotional offerings, the W7200 press is a high-volume commercial press expected to be available in the second half of 2009.

In addition, HP’s best-selling digital press, the HP Indigo press 5500, has been enhanced with options allowing greater productivity with an additional feeder, an in-line connection to the HP Indigo UV Coater and a kit for enabling printing on thicker media.

The leading digital label press, the HP Indigo press ws4500, is now offered with an EskoArtwork digital front-end to enhance both quality and productivity; in addition, the HP SmartStream Labels & Packaging Security Manager places unique identifying 2-D barcodes or color tiles on pharmaceutical labels to enable E-pedigree and track-and-trace.

HP offers the right workflow for a range of scenarios

HP Indigo presses will be the first hardware devices to employ the HP SmartStream Digital Workflow Portfolio, designed to be an open environment to meet a broad range of market segments and application needs and provide workflow management from job creation to fulfillment.

Combining HP SmartStream and partner components results in greater flexibility, with specific solutions that are customizable and scalable to the unique business needs of print service providers operating in key market segments, such as general commercial printing, direct marketing, publications printing, photo merchandise and labels and packaging.

The HP SmartStream Production Pro Print Server and HP SmartStream Production Plus Print Server, Powered by Creo, for example, provide print service providers with capabilities to increase efficiency, adapt to emerging markets and discover new growth opportunities.

Future additions to the HP SmartStream portfolio will offer workflow components for other HP Graphics Arts businesses, including HP Scitex, HP Inkjet High-Speed Production Solutions and HP Designjet.

Customers deploying next-generation HP digital printing technology may take advantage of financing, leasing and asset management solutions from HP Financial Services. HP Financial Services makes it easy for customers to intelligently and economically manage their graphic arts technology investment, and also helps them manage to the lowest total cost of ownership – from planning and acquiring technology to replacing and retiring it. Additional information is available at www.hp.com/hpfinancialservices.

HP advances its leading imaging and printing portfolio

Working with its original equipment manufacturer partners, HP announced solutions that incorporate core HP thermal inkjet technologies in outlicensed products for the mail printing, product identification printing, optical disk (CD/DVD) duplication and retail transaction printing markets.

These new offerings include the HP Scanning Imager 1000, an HP Scalable Printing Technology-based platform for direct-to-disk CD/DVD printing in high-quality process color at speeds up to three disks per minute.

As a result of its customers’ success, HP solutions are among the fast-growing, widely used solutions in their respective markets worldwide, including large-format commercial and industrial printing, large-format technical printing, high-volume digital production printing, digital label printing and mail addressing.

• HP Indigo press page volume has grown in excess of 40 percent each quarter since 2003, and presently HP Indigo presses worldwide print a total of 15 billion impressions annually.
• HP large-format printers have increased in annual print volume by 25 percent, with 1.8 billion square feet (549,000 square meters) printed on HP equipment in 2007 worldwide.
• Following the recent acquisitions of ColorSpan and NUR Macroprinters, HP is the world’s leading provider of UV-curable large-format printing.

More information on HP’s announcements in the run-up to drupa is available at www.hp.com/go/predrupa. Additional details on HP’s Graphic Arts portfolio and its upcoming exhibit at drupa 2008 is available through the HP Graphic Arts Portal at www.hp.com/go/graphicarts.

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, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world’s largest IT companies, with revenue totaling $107.7 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2008. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.

Note to editors: More news from HP, including links to RSS feeds, is available at www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/.

(1) HP internal estimates.

(2) Printers using HP Latex Inks use internal heaters to dry and cure the latex polymer film. Some substrates may have inherent odor.

(3) HP image permanence and scratch, smudge and water resistance estimates by HP Image Permanence Lab. Display permanence tested according to SAE J1960 using HP Latex and solvent inks on a range of media, including HP media; in a vertical display orientation in simulated nominal outdoor display conditions for select high and low climates, including exposure to direct sunlight and water; performance may vary as environmental conditions change. Scratch, smudge and water resistance tested using HP Latex and solvent inks on a wide range of HP media. Laminated display permanence using Neschen Solvoprint Performance Clear 80 laminate. Results may vary based on specific media performance.

(4) Compared to the HP Indigo press ws4500.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to products and services; anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the achievement of expected results; and other risks that are described in HP’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2007. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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