We see learning as a core driver for printing: Sunish Raghavan, Senior Director, Printing Systems, HP India

The transition to work from home and home schooling has amped the demand for home print solutions. According to Sunish Raghavan, senior director, Printing Systems, HP India, this has led the home printing segment to witness strong growth. “In fact, in India, almost every second printer sold is an HP printer,” Raghavan tells Sudhir Chowdhary, as he discusses the growth of the printer industry and HP’s focus on insights-driven innovations. Excerpts:

Amidst the pandemic, how has the home printing industry transformed?
Due to the pandemic, professionals and young learners across the world experienced disruption in the functioning of offices and schools. Over the past year and a half, modern, hassle-free, easy to access printers have become crucial in supporting work from home and enabling remote experiential and creative learning. As a result, the home printing segment witnessed strong growth. The recent IDC data for Q3, 2021highlights a 20.3% QoQ growth for the Indian printer market.

A continuous shift towards blended learning patterns, involving a mix of both digital and physical learning has contributed to this uptick. Parents who need to print workbooks for their children, or professionals who prefer taking notes on paper, display a natural preference for all-in-one printers that are relatively low cost and offer fast, full-colour, high-quality prints.

Why is HP going bullish on the home printing segment in particular? Is it still an emerging segment in the country?
There is an increase in home printing needs due to the growing home learning segment, work from home professionals, and SMBs. As the world moves towards hybrid learn and work patterns, customer expectations are evolving in favour of intelligent solutions.

With the emergence of HP’s new printers backed by the power of ‘insight-based innovation’, we are optimistic of growth in home printers. Consumers are moving towards affordable and hassle-free printing experiences, and with strong awareness are choosing the right printing device between ink tanks and cartridge-based printers to suit their print volume.

What are the key trends that you are witnessing in the market?
Recent innovations in the segment such as the Ink Tank and Laser Tank have focused on affordability. This has significantly transformed per page printing costs for both homes, as well as SMB users. Ease of printing has helped increase adoption of home printers in India. Today, most HP home printers are equipped with Wi-Fi through the HP Smart App, and best-in-class security features such as secure boot, write-protected memory and preset password for remote work requirements.

How has HP been performing in the printing segment?
HP’s new vision, mission, and belief reflects the depth of its long-term goals. Our vast range of best-in-class print products and solutions is spearheading our efforts to digitise homes and SOHOs globally. According to the latest IDC data, we have maintained our leadership in the overall HCP market with a share of 46.9% and a YoY growth in shipment of 2.3%. The growth was led by the inkjet printer segment, where we are the industry leader. The ink tank portfolio too grew by 53.5% YoY coupled with the launch of new models in 3Q21.

HP is the only company that offers customers three printing platforms: inkjet, laser, and PageWide. We are focused on empowering customers with the most secure and resilient technologies to thwart security threats. We see ‘Learning’ as a core driver for home printing, while digitisation and workflow transformation will drive enterprise and small and medium businesses (SMB) printing.

How is HP catering to the needs of SMBs and helping them digitalise?
SMBs were impacted the most during the pandemic due to their smaller size, limited access to ready capital and comparatively low level of digitalisation. As a major contributor to the GDP and a source of employment, their rebound is critical to our economy. The HP Asia SMB Outlook Report 2020 reveals that digital transformation will enable SMBs to rebound from the impact of Covid-19. It reinforces the role of digital in the revival of businesses. The three main pain points are affordability, continuity, and sustainability.

Addressing these concerns, HP began the reimagination of its small business printing category over three years ago. HP launched the HP Neverstop high-capacity printer, designed with smart printing technology to boost efficiency for small to medium businesses and home printing. HP is building SMB focused products and solutions and is also helping them to unlock innovation and rebound from the present challenges.