March 2nd, 2009
HP: EDS wins outsourcing pact; Eyes printing expansion
HP on Monday unveiled a flurry of announcements including a win for its EDS services unit and a bevy of new printer options.
On the enterprise of HP’s business, the company said it won a 10-year, $1 billion data center services contract from Aviva, a large U.K. insurer (statement). Under the deal, EDS will retool Aviva’s data centers in Norwich, England and operate them. About 300 Aviva employees will become EDS workers.
In many respects, EDS’ Aviva win is your typical outsourcing deal. There are more moving parts on HP’s printing side of the equation.
HP on Monday added four new printers to its consumer inkjet line-up at prices from $49 to $299 (statement). The headliner is the HP Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One. Most interesting feature: HP’s high-end printer is DNLA certified, which means that it can print from Sony’s PlayStation 3. I’m not sure how many people want to print from a PlayStation, but the feature stuck out.
Among other items:
- HP unveiled its Image Store. The idea is to target consumers and entice them to order printed merchandise. HP reckons the printed merchandise market is worth about $30 billion and has forged deals with CBS/Star Trek, Curtis Publishing, Dr. Seuss, Marvel, the NBA and Nickelodeon. CBS owns ZDNet.
- HP launched PTADigital.com, a community print portal to create custom school and home merchandise for pickup at stores.
- The company also rolled out Photo Center 4.0, in store photo software so retailers can print photos and customize marketing materials. Separately, HP announced that Tesco will be one of its major partners.
- Snapfish has a feature dubbed Snapshow, which allows consumers to create galleries mixed with artwork, animation and music.
- HP also outlined its commercial printing portfolio, including the HP Indigo WS6000 Digital Press.
The game plan for HP is clear. Generate new markets and revenue opportunities for its printing business. HP’s printing unit is still a cash cow, but has been hit amid a slowing economy.
In the company’s first quarter, HP’s imaging and printing group saw revenue fall 19 percent to $6 billion. Supplies revenue fell 7 percent. However, HP printing unit still had an operating profit of $1.1 billion, flat with a year ago.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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