HP Pushes Photo Kiosks

This is a really smart move by HP. Their new photo papers and inks are really incredible, with better colors and archiveability than even the silver halide process. Inkjet kiosks are cheaper to operate than dye-sub kiosks, and have almost zero maintenance compared to the "wet" chemical processes used by minilabs.

The HP Photosmart Studio makes one-hour hardbound photo albums, posters, calendars, and cards. It's about time someone came out with a system that takes advantage of the flexibility of digital printing to give us the products we really want, instead of just cranking out more 4x6 prints to go in the shoebox.

Barrie- I think Melissa, if she's not an HP 'plant' has a better understanding of the product. This isn't about inkjet as much as offering a wide variety of products beyond the 4x6 print. Phogenix was a whole different ballgame. The response at PMA was very positive. One presenter at PMA pointed to the 4x6 print being dead. I don't think the print is dead but if that's all you offer, you're dead!
We are part of HP's rollout of the Photosmart Studio (to be installed mid-March) and of course, very excited to be able offer our customers a number of other ways to 'use' digital images. Photobooks was a hot item at the show because customers love them- and represent a chance to once again offer a more porfitable item that having to compete for the 4x6 print, which is being beat to death!

Paul,you are quite correct,however 6"x4" is still over 90% of the market,we have 6"x4",5"x 7",6"x8" and coming in mths 8"x10",profit is in the enlargements,i wish all the best with your Photosmart Studio roll-out,and would like to know how it all works out.

HP's Rich Duncombe, vice president, Imaging & Printing Group, advised retailers to look at the application first, not the product, to determine which type of inkjet printing technology to buy. But, he said, there is no doubt that inkjet is best for the photo industry and will be the long-term winning technology.
He, too, looked at inkjet's permanence, noting the pigment ink HP uses in its Photosmart Express kiosk has a lifespan of more than 50 years.
Answering an audience question about inkjet cost versus RA paper, Kubara advised inkjet costs have come down and will continue to do so. Keep in mind, he added, the cost of RA paper is very low, perhaps unprofitably low for its manufacturers. RA prices are "absolutely the target" said Duncombe.
PMA 2nd March 2005

With pxidigital? kiosk customers will enjoy archival values of 100 yrs,our imaging archival values are superior to HP Photomart Kiosks.

Most of the HP inkjet imaging technology prints will begin to fade almost within 2-3 yrs,

HP photo kiosks Brand confusion.

?While HP is a strong consumer brand, it is primarily associated with home printing, not retail printing. Consumers may trust the incumbents more than a new vendor with their retail printing?, Gartner 23rd Feb 2006.

HP photo kiosk-print quality issue.
Having reviewed the PMA show prints,one wonders how the comsumer at retail level will accept these average quality prints,they are very flat in clour,and lack any depth of colour.

HP photo kiosk .
Paul,6?x4? is far from dead, it represents over 90% of all digital imaging printed in the world today-noticed HP pushing this point too, maybe they are just not competitive in the mainstream with their new HP photo kiosks.

HP Photo Kiosks.
http://gazettetimes.com/articles/2006/03/20/news/community/mon02.prt

they have sold this guy,lets see how it pans out over next 2yrs,vending average quality inkjet digital prints,expect this kind of business is about repeat visitation.

Barrie- even if 4x6 does equal 90% of the market, there's little money in it any more. A new digital minilab runs up to $200,000. When do you get a return when competing against 19? prints (19?xwhat=$200,000?) The poster prints from the 24" printer are very good. So far customers love everything they've ordered with one exception. That customer submitted some very poor images- I 'worked' them up in Photoshop and we'll see what she thinks of them now. To me they're still not great (just poorly exposed) but I had customers 21 years ago who loved their disc film cameras- who am I to judge.
Barrie, now that you've found me, why not send some output to me and more info on your system- I've not seen it yet.
See http://photoimagenews.com/hpsweetprofits/
for more info- and real customers!

Paul,
You are welcome to come to Sydney to our launch, the old model for imaging is the minilab,today we are in the ?instant gratification?? digital era, its about merchandising where the customers are with their media, especially with coming boom in the ?megapixel? camera/phone handset, we are way infront of Kodak/HP Photo kiosks.

During our 14mths of retail testing, we ran up to 1,000 6?x4? prints per day, best day 4,200 6?x4? digital prints; this is from a stand-alone kiosk that sat out in mall that required no outside assistance, which seemed quite real to me.

Another reality was when we executed our China contract for 35,000 pxidigital? over next 5 yrs and the non-refundable deposit cleared our bank-that seemed real.

It is a new direction in the digital era; we have an exciting brand that relates to that space, and have succured the domain space to support-in the pixel/digital variations.

Paul Rentz/Barrie Harrop . . . . . what's the problem; we haven't heard anything since March 23/29? I for one anxiously await more word from either of you!

Hp's rollout was to begin mid-March . . . how's it going? How many units are in operation; what's the response!

Where are the details?

Expect HP Photo Kiosks trials at Wal-Mart will not come to much, at the end of the day it is about generating repeat visitation to these kiosks, their picture quality is average.

Do not expect a retailer of Wal-Mart standing to be supporting a product that in not viable in the imaging space, unless there is some other cross subsidy deal we do not know about, and in any event customers being disappointed will soon change the attitude of their senior management team.

Barrie Harrop:

I happened to come across one of your postings on a website and it was so weird that I had to start googling for you. I've spent about 20 minutes and have found everything I need to find out about you. Here's the picture I'm getting:

2001: Barrie Harrop notices that digital camears are really becoming the "next big thing". Barrie Harrop decides to embark upon creating a digital printing Kiosk to address this opporutnity. Barrie Harrop sees dollar signs flashing in front of his eyes.

2002: Barrie Harrop throws himself into the development of a digital printing Kiosk. All is going well.

2003: Barrie Harrop is wise enough to realize that to compete, he'll have to use a clean and reliable printing method. He looks at inkjet. Contacts Epson. Epson isn't interested because he's just Barrie Harrop. Undetered, Barrie Harrop decides to continue development.

2004: Barrie Harrop now has a working prototype for a nice photo printing kiosk. Works pretty good, Makes a few tweaks, works better. Barrie Harrop decides to start figuring out how to sell this Kiosk to somebody. Barrie Harrop starts a one-man campaign to carpet bomb all websites with information about his product. Barrie Harrop starts to notice that the competion in the Digital Photo printing Kiosk market is starting to become competitve. Barrie starts to worry...

2005: Photo printing kiosk market explodes. Barrie is happy he had a "head start". Doubles down on his efforts for gorilla marketing on every possible web forum he can find. Starting to get more worried about competition...

Feb 26 2006: Boom! That's the sound of HP dropping the bomb on the photo kiosk market. Barrie Harrop is now incredibly worried. A huge elephant has just strolled into his living room and has taken a dump on his coffee table. Undeterred, Barrie Harrop continues his grassroots one-man campaign to create an artificial buzz around his product.

June 6 2006: Barrie Harrop is happy he developed a product that probably works well, and probably will have some success, but realizes deep inside that he's a mouse, not an elephant.

I admire your tenacity and inventiveness, truely I do. But to be taken seriously, please understand that blasting your competitors only makes you look increasingly desperate. If you want your product to be taken seriosly, then publish some information about it. Stop hiding behind gorilla marketing tactics. Step up and show us what you have. Put up a nice website, with real information, and real examples of your work. I'm sure that we'd all love to take you seriously, but for now at least, we can't.

tea for two,
moving forwards,it only took HP many hundreds of millions to produce a kiosk capabiltiy that prints average qaulity prints compared to ours,we have a contract in place for China,and are working towards one in Japan,then we plan to come over to the USA,to check out the elephant, i hear its open season,you may not have heard that a mouse can scare an elephant.

Our kiosks are in the market in Aust with pleasing customer reactions,come down an try one,love to do a demo for you,then we could have high tea afterwards.

yes its taken many years to produce our kiosk,then again its taken other similar time frames to do less.

tea for two,its seems these day one doesnt get too much for $300m of development, HP seemed to have indicated they have spent on this new photo kiosk venture ,except in there case very average print qaulity,wondering if you have actually seen these prints or used the HP kiosks ,expect not.
The business is about repeat visitation,the HP print quality will struggle to get this repeat business.

Barrie Harrop, where does one find out more about your system?

Considering the cost of supplies and how much waste dye sub machines create, an inkjet solutions just seems much more attractive to the retailer in terms of cost. I think it's great that HP is bringing new techology to the market and offering more options.

I've looked at the prints from the 4x6 kiosk and I think the quality looks far superior to dye sub printers. I think now the retailers will want to decide if the quality from a $15k kiosk printer is good enough for their customers as opposed to the quality from a $200k minilab printer.

Linc asks what has happened to Paul Rentz-Barrie Harrop? I can't answer for Barrie but I can tell you that HP has exploded around the world with their Photosmart Studio System since we installed ours. See http://h30248.www3.hp.com/consumer/digital_photography/at_home/retail-kiosk/index_f.asp for a location near you!