CAIRO: From basic inkjet printers to sophisticated LaserJet printers; and from retail photo booth finishing to graphics and signage printers, Hewlett-Packard (HP) currently holds a 65-70 percent global market share. "At HP, we don't [consider] ourselves in the printer business, but we are in the printing business. And maybe in more obsolete terms, we are in the paper business, boasted Vincent Vanderpoel, vice president and general manager of HP's imaging and printing supplies division in Europe and the MENA region. "We don't say how many pages can be printed, but how many pages can be printed on an HP device, he added. HP's print strategy focuses on delivering next-generation digital printing platform that increases print speeds and lowers the cost of printing for high-volume commercial markets. The company also strives to make it easier to print from the web. With an aim to extend HP's digital content creation and publishing platforms across all customer segments in the market, their products cater to consumers, to small and medium-size businesses, large enterprises, and the sophisticated graphic arts community. Digital printing, said Vanderpoel, is on the rise across the globe. Records show that in the year 2006, digital printing consumed 49 trillion pages, with projections of further growth across the years. Hence, the company is expanding its portfolio of printers and imaging products and introducing a breakthrough in new web-based printing services - an overall strategy designed to accelerate the company's ability to capture a more significant portion of the 53 trillion pages expected to be printed by 2010. "Our vision is that paper is now used in a different way, he pointed out. "For example, people now use electronic tickets where they print airline tickets [directly] from the Web. The area that has changed the use of paper the most is photography, whereby the shift from traditional cameras to digital ones happened very quickly. "The time of silver light printing is almost over. Digital photography is now prevailing, added Vanderpoel. "The number of digital photos being taken is growing so exponentially that the number of photos being printed is growing. 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 $100.5 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended July 2007. HP introduced the first inkjet and LaserJet printers in 1984. The company has now sold more than 300 million inkjet printers since then and more than 100 million LaserJet printers. The Imaging and Printing Group (IPG) - one of HP's three divisions - has been an evergreen success story. In the last five years, IPG has grown revenue from $19 billion to $26 billion and doubled its operating profit to $3.8 billion. Still, that is not enough for HP. "Despite the size of our business, we [constantly] look for growth opportunities, said Vanderpoel. "In Western Europe, the market is still growing but in single digits.because it is already saturated. But markets that are growing primarily are emerging markets, particularly in the MENA region. In emerging markets, he explained, a lot of new computer users are coming up, and more applications are becoming computerized, which in its turn extends to HP's business. IPG covers around 14 countries in the MENA region, including Egypt, Levant, and Gulf countries. They have been active in regional markets for 30 years, however, they became physically present 11 years ago when they opened offices in countries such as Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Kuwait. "HP is expanding throughout the MENA region, said Amr Hassan, IPG's general manager in the Middle East. "We are very committed to the region in general and Egypt in particular, where we have doubled our resources in the last 14-18 months. HP has partnered with different government entities in Egypt to increase capacity building and expertise of human resources. The company has also taken part in Egypt's PC-for-every-school initiative, equipping a number of schools with HP devices. "We also established IPG's technology center in Egypt, acting as a hub for people across the entire region to get educated and trained on HP solutions, Hassan added. "That project was endorsed by the ministry of IT, and several people from Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Gulf countries received training. "We see a similarity across all emerging markets, where many governments look at IT as a cornerstone for modernization and education, Vanderpoel added. "HP is [keen] on being part of that process.
