HP to consolidate in digital printing

Source: EconomicTimes.com

Hewlett-Packard is in the process of consolidating its position in digital printing in the Indian market. HP Indigo, the line of digital offset colour printing systems aquired by the company in 2002, has seen close to a 200% jump in sales in India during last year.

Nagesh Karuturi, country category manager for Indigo, imaging and printing division(IPG)-HP India, said there have been 30 installations so far compared with 10 in 2006, and is equally distributed between the commercial and the industrial segments.

Delhi has the highest concentration of users, followed by Bangalore and Mumbai, he said. Indigo has had a presence of close to two years in India. VS Hariharan, vice-president of the graphic arts business, IPG-HP Asia Pacific and Japan, said the graphic arts business has grown at over 40% in the Asia Pacific and Japan and impressions have grown by over 60%. "India is also seeing comparable growth," he added.

He said India was one of the important markets along with China and Japan. Japan has seen a degrowth in digital printing and its marketshare has declined from 17% in 2001 to around 14% in 2006, witnessing a CAGR of around 0.9%. HP is looking at upgrading its digital press demo center in Chennai.

The center is one of the top five in the world and was set up at an investment cost of apprx. Rs 3.5 crore. Mr. Hariharan indicated that HP was working closely with its partner in Chennai-Redington- and is funneling all training requirements to increase the customer base in India. The company is investing in upgradation in a phased manner. "We are also increasing our sales force," he said.

The Indigo line of printing systems offers features such as variable data printing and production of printing products on a wider range of substrates. In the January-March quarter of 2007, HP had increased its marketshare in digital printing in the Asia-Pacific by 22% in a market that grew by 31% y-o-y.