HP Indigo posts page volumes

HP Indigo customers collectively printed more than 10 billion four-colour, A4 pages in 2009 – a 13 percent year-over-year increase that led HP to a seventh consecutive record year in total annual page volume. This growth reflects the continued high demand for digital colour print applications amidst an otherwise challenging time for print service providers (PSPs), the company said.

In addition, HP Indigo customers made December 2009 the most active month for page volume in Indigo history.

HP Indigo presses are commonly used to produce marketing collateral, personalised direct mail, colour books and publications that have the true look and feel of analogue offset print. HP Indigo presses are also among the world’s leading solutions for label printing.

Photo specialty printing – including the production of greeting cards, personal calendars and photobooks – is the fastest-growing vertical segment for HP Indigo. HP Indigo presses are the main production devices used at many of the world’s leading photobook manufacturers.

In FY 2009, HP experienced a 30 percent year-over-year increase in press orders for photo applications. Many of these orders took place in the second half of the fiscal year as PSPs prepared for the photo specialty market’s annual production peak – the October 1 to December 31 time period when consumers order photo specialty products for the holiday season.

Monthly HP Indigo impressions for both the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and the Americas region passed the one billion mark for the first time ever last December, making December 2009 the most productive month ever in HP Indigo history.

In the Americas region, one company, Seattle, Wash.-based RPI, produced more than 15 percent of total HP Indigo print volume for the region while serving as a photo specialty fulfilment partner for businesses like Blurb and Snapfish by HP.

High uptime and reliability are key requirements for success in the peak season, with many photo specialty customers operating their presses 24 hours a day through the three-month time period. To ensure continued customer productivity, HP augmented its worldwide service teams for the peak season with 50 personnel from division headquarters sent to work in the field with customers.