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Snapfish logo Snapfish cuts online printing prices
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(Friday, May 27, 2005 - 01:48 EDT)

A press release from Snapfish, the online photo printing service that was acquired by Hewlett-Packard Co. last March, announces a fairly impressive cut in pricing for prints in sizes ranging from wallet size to 8" x 10".

Snapfish was formerly charging 19 cents per 4" x 6" print (before shipping and tax), comparing favorably to its major competitors Shutterfly (29 cents) and Kodak EasyShare Gallery (formerly known as Ofoto, 25 cents). With the new pricing, which again does not take account of shipping or tax, customers can get 4" x 6" prints for 12 cents apiece - or if they're willing to prepay for 1000 4" x 6" prints, as little as 10 cents apiece.

Pricing on a sheet of four 2" x 3" wallet-size prints has been cut from $1.79 to $0.99, while pricing on 8" x 10" prints falls from $3.79 to $2.99. Pricing for 5" x 7" prints now varies from 79 cents apiece for up to 10 prints, to as little as 39 cents apiece for orders of 50 or more prints - down from a range of 59 - 95 cents previously.

It should be noted that these prices don't tell the whole story, since they don't include state or local sales taxes where appropriate, and the cost of shipping can raise the overall price drastically. For example, on the deal for 1000 prepaid 4" x 6" prints, USPS standard shipping would cost an absolute minimum of $49.75 for postage if you ordered all 1000 prints in a single delivery - raising the overall cost to 15 cents per print, plus tax. If you were to order, say, 25 prints per delivery (a much more reasonable assumption), you'd pay $78.80 for USPS standard shipping, with pre-tax cost thus being 18 cents per print.

Things could get a lot more expensive for shipping overseas (34 cents per print if sent in batches of 25, before tax) or with smaller order-sizes (a single 4" x 6" print shipped overnight inside the US could cost you $9.11 by itself, if you weren't prepaying for the printing).

Still, if you're clever with waiting to order large batches of photos at once, and happy to wait a little rather than pay for expediting shipping, there's undoubtedly the potential to save some money with Snapfish's new pricing (and the company will likely force competitors' pricing to come down as well). With smaller orders assuming that you're not choosing where to have your photos printed based on anything other than price, though, companies such as WalMart may still offer the best value with 4" x 6" prints for around 17 cents apiece plus tax if you're willing to pick the prints up in person.

Original Source Press Release:

HP's Snapfish Resets the Online Photography Landscape: Digital Prints Now as Low as 10 Cents Each; Snapfish Welcomes Vacationers into Summer with Prints for Pennies

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 26, 2005--HP (NYSE:HPQ) (Nasdaq:HPQ) today significantly reduced the pricing on its Snapfish online photo service by offering 4 x 6-inch prints for as low as 10 cents each. Snapfish prints are now priced up to 60 percent lower than those of its major online competitors.

Consumers can now go to www.snapfish.com to order 4 x 6-inch digital camera and camera phone prints for as low as 10 cents with a pre-paid plan and 12 cents with Snapfish's everyday low pricing -- a 7 cent reduction from Snapfish's previous industry-leading price.

As always, consumers will receive professionally developed, high-quality prints along with Snapfish's 110 percent satisfaction guarantee.

"Every company pledges 'value' to its customers, but only a select few of the best companies consistently deliver on the promise," said Ben Nelson, vice president and general manager, Snapfish, HP. "Since our founding in 1999, 'best value' has been our promise to Snapfish users and, with today's news, Snapfish isn't just the best place to share, store and print precious memories online, it is truly the best value in photography."

With this move, Snapfish, a division of HP, achieves yet another industry milestone -- making digital printing online definitively less expensive than using film, which, on average, costs $6.44 per roll, or about 25 cents per print.

"We believe this move will spark further growth in the overall digital photography market," said Larry Lesley, senior vice president, Consumer Imaging and Printing, HP. "A true complement to our home photo printing offering, today's announcement encourages consumers to engage more deeply in the digital photography experience, driving further sharing and printing of photos whether online, in the home or at retail."

Snapfish also dropped the prices of its other popular print sizes and packages by up to 45 percent, including:

  Previously Now
5 x 7-inches 59 - 95 cents 29 - 79 cents
8 x 10-inches $3.79 $2.99
Wallet size $1.79 $0.99

HP's ability to make this move stems from Snapfish's growth. Snapfish currently welcomes more than 500,000 new users per month, generating significant increases in volume -- in terms of both prints and photo merchandise, such as calendars, diaper bags and more than 80 unique photo products. This increase in volume has enabled Snapfish to scale its operation, increase efficiencies and achieve significant cost savings, which it is now able to pass on to customers.

Additional information is available at www.snapfish.com.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended April 30, 2005, HP revenue totaled $83.3 billion. More information about HP is available at www.hp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including the expected development, performance or rankings of products or services; statements of expectation or belief; and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the development, performance and market acceptance of products and services and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31, 2005, and other reports filed after HP's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2004. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

(C) 2005 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

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