Printing Industries of America Releases Official Statement on HP

Pittsburgh-based Printing Industries of America (PIA) released a statement denouncing HP's latest offering of managed print services.

PIA has always viewed HP as a company that offers high-impact digital solutions to the print industry, but is disappointed in its latest move.

"We are always concerned when a major vendor in our industry deviates from its core offerings to venture into managing print solutions, which the private sector has competitively provided for hundreds of years," noted Michael Makin, president and CEO of PIA.

HP officials have assured PIA it is not the company's intent to compete with private commercial printers and that this effort is primarily directed as an enterprise solution for major corporations to facilitate their in-house copying. A webcast describing HP's Guarantee Program supports this position, but PIA is concerned that it could open the door to further service offerings.

"Our role as the largest graphic arts trade association in the world is to represent the interests of commercial printers. It strikes me that HP may be compromising its relationships with its crucial printer customer base. On the one hand, it is courting commercial printers to purchase its print solutions, and yet, on the other, it is offering managed services which could compete with these very printers," said Makin, noting that Printing Industries has also objected when other vendors have offered similar services.

Makin stressed that HP should formally clarify its relationship with commercial printers to eliminate further anxiety in already difficult economic times.