Updated 26 May, 2012, 4:18 pm IST

Kodak Enters Consumer Inkjet Printer Market

06 Feb, 2007, 6:10 pm IST | by Sharon Khare |

Eastman Kodak Company has entered the consumer inkjet industry with a new product line for the home.

The company maintains that Kodak Easyshare All-in-One Printers will enable consumers to print documents and Kodak lab-quality photos at home using premium, pigment-based inks that will save consumers up to 50 percent on everything they print.

"After today, the inkjet market will never be the same," said Antonio M. Perez, chairman and chief executive officer, Eastman Kodak Company. "We are changing the rules in this industry to ensure that consumers can affordably print what they want, when they want, easily and at the high level of Kodak quality they’ve come to expect."

"For far too long, people have felt restrained from printing due to the high cost of ink," Perez said. "Our new system gives consumers the freedom to print documents and photos frequently, easily and affordably with exceptional quality that lasts a lifetime under typical home display conditions. Our extensive history in printing, combined with our legendary dedication to the consumer, puts us in a unique position to revolutionize inkjet printing."

The Kodak Easyshare AiO Printers use Kodak's premium, pigment-based ink, priced at $9.99 for a cartridge of black ink and $14.99 for a five-ink color cartridge. When the Kodak Photo Value Pack is purchased, a 4 x 6-inch photo costs as little as 10 cents per print.

The Kodak Easyshare AiO Printers feature exclusive Kodacolor Technology that is a combination of four key elements — pigment-based inks, micro-porous photo papers, color and image science, and the Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems (MEMS) print head.

The Kodak Easyshare 5100 All-in-One Printer ($149.99 US MSRP), featuring print, scan and copy capabilities can print and copy up to 32 pages per minute in black and 22 pages per minute in color, and print photos from Pictbridge-enabled cameras without involving a PC.

The Kodak Easyshare 5300 All-in-One Printer ($199.99 US MSRP) builds on the 5100's features by offering a 3-inch color LCD display that enables photo viewing and cropping directly from the printer. Memory card slots provide an additional quick and simple way to print digital pictures without a PC.

The Kodak Easyshare 5500 All-in-One Printer ($299.99 US MSRP) is aimed at home-office users and families. In addition to sharing the features of the 5100 and 5300 printers, the 5500 has fax functionality and includes a 2.4-inch color LCD display, an automatic document feeder and a duplexer attachment.

Beginning in March 2007, the Kodak Easyshare 5100 and 5300 AiO Printers will retail exclusively at Best Buy locations across the United States. The 5500 is expected to begin shipping in May 2007. Online shoppers will be able to purchase the printers in April 2007 at the Kodak Store (www.kodak.com).

Kodak has also introduced a new Web site — www.inkisit.com — to provide consumers with an entertaining look at issues surrounding traditionally high-cost ink.

The site includes interactive games; videos of a comedic, mock-TV show called "Ink Is It"; a print-cost calculator for consumers to determine how much they are currently spending on ink; and detailed information about the new line of products. Over the next few months, Kodak will release several new videos, introduce new prize contests and provide other interactive, consumer-oriented features on the Web site.

"For too long, consumers have complained that ink costs too much; that quality, durability and longevity is not good enough; and that printers are too hard to use," Perez said. "That stops today — because of Kodak and our revolutionary approach to inkjet."

Tags: Kodak , Inkjet