The bMighty Blog -- Hardware & Software

HP introduces a bunch of new printers for small and midsize businesses, and I learn a bunch of new things about inkjets, LaserJets, and how businesses really use printers.

Today Hewlett-Packard introduced a new OfficeJet business inkjet line, plus a handful of new color laser printers and black and white multifunction laser printers. I checked ‘em out and they’re pretty cool. You can read about ‘em here.

But the interesting part of the afternoon I recently spent with Vince Ferraro, HP’s VP of marketing for the LaserJet business, was getting some inside info on printing, printers, and what SMBs actually do with them.

Printed materials are can help small companies to look big. “SMBs want to look like the big guys,” Ferraro told me, and good printed materials are an affordable way to do that.

Inkjet printers cost less per page than color laser printers. This one really surprised me. I always assumed that lasers were cheaper – and they are for monochrome uses. But in the world of color, laser is more expensive and usually can’t match the print quality of inkjets on images.

Things lasers are best at:
Volume printing
Performance
Good results on a wide range of paper

Things inkjets are best at:
Lower cost per page
Lower energy consumption
Highest quality on special paper
Edge- to-edge printing

Printing in-house is much cheaper – if you do it right. “We believe the cost of printing in house is 50% of going outside, if you know what you’re doing,” Ferraro said. That changes for big print runs, of course, but for under 100 copies, there’s no comparison.

SMBs really do care about the software that comes with their printer. The first thing I do when I install a new printer is dump whatever software came with it in favor of the applications I already use. But Ferraro said that software controlling templates, tools, cost calculations and other things can be a differentiating factor, especially when using a multifunction printer. “That’s a big hulking piece of software,” he noted.

Printers use a lot of power, even when they’re not printing. Ferraro said that 60% of HP’s lasers and half of its inkjets are Energy Star compliant, partly through using Instant On technology that lets users leave the thing off until they need it, and then turns on the heater faster so they can start printing sooner. (That could make a big difference. I recently heard that over the course of a year, the average microwave uses less power when sitting idle than it does actually cooking. ) Ferraro also touted HP's “take back” programs for old printers, and added that the company makes cartridges from post-consumer plastics and plans to reduce printer energy consumption by 20% by 2010.

Printing isn’t going away. Analyst Rob Enderle, was recently quoted as saying: "The printing and imaging market continues to slow as we finally start to move away from paper and to electronic methods of data delivery. Today the vast amount of growth for information delivery is electronic and at some point print will drop into decline."

Not so fast. Ferraro quoted studies predicted that in 2010 there will be 54 TRILLION pages printed, of which 10% will be digital. By that same year, the small and midsize business printing market will be worth an estimated $103 BILLION. For 2008, companies will print $24 billion worth of marketing collateral alone, $8 billion of which will be printed in house.

That's a lot of printing from small companies.

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