Vyomesh Joshi, HP’s Executive Vice President of the Imaging and Printing Group, recently gave an interview and participated in a round table discussion at the Future in Review Conference. Here are some excerpts (you can read the full article here).

1. HP has been focused on being a printer business. They now need to shift to being a printing business.

Joshi says HP needs to focus on pages rather than printers. There are more than 48 trillion pages printed per year (Wow!) and in terms of a market share, HP only holds 2%. He sees a lot of opportunity in the pages.

Anyone see the need for more extensive use of printer ink in making the shift to this model? 48 trillion pages printed and HP only makes up 2% of that 48 trillion. That’s a lot of ink!

2. The Content Consumption model

Joshi believes that in its shift, HP needs to look at a Content Consumption model. There is a huge push today for the consumers to create and then consume the content they create. Given the technology that exists it is very easy for individuals to create content and then quickly distribute it for others to consume (that is what we are doing here). All of this can be done from their homes using a digital camera, Internet connection, various forms of inexpensive software, and a printer. The technology that was supposed to have created a paperless society has created a society that prints a lot more, maybe not always on paper, but on other mediums. HP’s goal is to be a source of printing on any medium.

3. Inkjet printing and DNA sequencing

Joshi believes that HP’s inkjet technology can play a big part in supplying technology that works in medical areas like drug delivery and DNA sequencing. He claims that HP’s core competency is making a pump that can accurately deliver liquid. Their pump (internal component of the inkjet printer) accurately delivers nanoliters of liquids, and they make a half a billion of them a year.

4. 3D Printing

HP has made 3D prints in their labs. It requires layering of materials, and the primary concern is the strength of the material used. He said the problem is not in the printer, and that HP could inkjet anything. The limiting factor is the material they are printing on.

5. On Kodak

(We are just going to use the direct quote on this one) “Kodak says they are half the price on photos only, not black and white. You will find that claim is not really valid. What do customers print in the home? Seventy percent of it is black and white. Kodak has patent issues. The problem is going to be any kind of business you want to build, it has to be a real business model. Look at Dell, they started (in printers) three years ago, and still can’t make money.”

6. On Memjet

(Direct quote on this one too) “It’s very interesting; they are claiming they have a prototype of one. It takes years to commercialize the technology. We always love competition; it gives us a wakeup call.”

Let Pacific Ink know what you think of Joshi’s comments.