|
Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) is seeking to change its business model by getting rid of its digital camera manufacturing branch, which has been an integral part of the company since the early 1990s. The decision reflects the company's poor performance in this sector and a subsequent revision of its business strategy. In a recent announcement HP stated that it will dump responsibility for design, source and distribute digital cameras to an OEM partner, providing instead only HP branding on the devices manufactured by its partner. HP is seeking to accelerate its investment in the 'Print 2.0' initiative, designed to further its leadership position in home photo printing and online photo services, while accelerating the company's retail photo-finishing business. (Source: Hewlett Packard)
Key observers in the digital camera industry have been expecting this announcement. Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies explained that, "Now you look at all the new cameras coming out and the aggressive pricing, I think it's too difficult for HP to continue on its own in something that's not core to its business." (Source: InternetNews.com) By HP's own estimates 'Print 2.0' is a $300 billion opportunity which can potentially lead to the development of branching applications in the mass consumer market. This announcement however reverses the company's stated strategy announced in 2004 to revamp its digital camera lineup and invest $1 billion in research and development over 18 months to become a leading vendor. (Source: betanews) This decision is in response to the infusion of lower-priced Chinese brands into the North American market, plus the growing market share of industry leaders such as Canon, Sony and Kodak. The company is not the first to make this decision; earlier this year General Electric began licensing its brand to an OEM, the General Imaging Company. (Source: dpreview) The overall change in business model will result in HP taking a $30 million hit for the 4th fiscal quarter of this year. HP intends to continue sell its own digital cameras throughout the holiday season, with the expectation of concluding the transfer by July 2008. (Source: channelregister)
-- Related newsletter articles:
2007/08/10 Sony Recalls Continue to Mount (cameras)
2007/02/02 Record Labels Consider Removing Restrictions On Digital Music (digital)
2007/07/13 Police to Blanket NYC with Cameras (cameras)
2007/08/07 Phishing for Big Fish (business)
2007/10/19 Napster's New Plans To Attract Old Customers (digital)
2007/07/25 Microsoft's Moore Moves to Madden (decision)
2006/12/13 Hewlett-Packard Shareholders Accused of Insider Trading (hp)
2007/10/24 Tech Revolutionizes the Great Outdoors (cameras)
2007/05/29 Sony and Blu-ray Concoct Lawsuit (digital)
2007/03/29 Sony Exec Discusses Apple (digital)
2007/09/14 HP Invades Mobile Phone Industry (hp)
2004/03/23 Uninstall Matcli vendor support? (hp)
2004/03/23 TWAIN compliant graphics editor? (digital camera)
2004/06/11 Digital Camera won't download pictures to PC? (digital camera)
2007/05/16 Move Over BlackBerry! RIM Throws Competition Curveball with 8300 (camera)
2007/10/17 DRM-free for Under a Buck on iTunes (digital)
2007/04/12 Big Brother is Watching: Talking Cameras invade Britain (cameras)
-- Recent articles (from all channels): 2008/05/12 Today in History: for Monday, May 12, 2008
2008/05/12 [ShellX 20080512]: 'Remote Manager', and 'Cyber Bandwidth ...
2008/05/12 Video Gaming Trade Group Struggling
2008/05/12 T-Mobile Finally Joins 3G Phone Race
2008/05/12 Apple Slammed by Environment Watchdog
2008/05/09 [ShellX 20080509]: 'Advanced Run', and 'Diver Windows Manager'
2008/05/09 Texas Refuses Facebook Friend Request
2008/05/09 Photo-Enforcement Technology Replaces Officers On Patrol
2008/05/09 Cuban Government Says 'Ok Computer'
2008/05/09 Excel Can E-Mail Your Weekly Reports For You!
2008/05/08 [ShellX 20080508]: 'Shell Enhancer', and 'Lansweeper'
2008/05/08 Xobni: MS Outlook Social Networking Technology for your Inbox
2008/05/08 Music Companies Jump on GTA IV Bandwagon
2008/05/08 Fascinating: Memristor to replace Binary
2008/05/08 Adobe Hopes To Make Flash Master Of The (Mobile) Universe
2008/05/08 Spiffy Envelopes and Labels in MS Word
2008/05/07 [ShellX 20080507]: 'Winbin2iso', and 'Loop Typer'
2008/05/07 Yahoo Adds Security Warnings To Search Results
2008/05/07 Apple to Lose Money on iTunes Movie Releases
2008/05/07 Amazon.com takes New York Tax to Court
2008/05/07 Need Glasses for the Slide Sorter View in MS PowerPoint?
2008/05/07 After Winning The DVD Format War, Blu-Ray Sales Tank
2008/05/06 [ShellX 20080506]: 'Visual Basic 6.0 Portable', and 'Double-...
2008/05/06 Yahoo Outsources to Jajah
2008/05/06 New HP Circuit Could Change Technology Forever
2008/05/06 Movie Downloads To Match DVD Release Dates
2008/05/06 Microsoft Ends Yahoo Bid
2008/05/05 [ShellX 20080505]: 'Ie7 Pro', and 'Desktop Ok'
2008/05/05 The WB Network Hops Online
2008/05/05 Microsoft Slashes Price of Xbox 360 Overseas
2008/05/05 Google CEO Wants YouTube to Take More of Your Money
|
