Kodak Enters Consumer Inkjet Market

Kodak has entered the consumer inkjet market with three new inkjets and a pricing structure for inks that will break the pricing mold currently used by consumer inkjet printers. The current model is to use low-priced printers with relatively high-priced ink cartridges. Kodak printers will use premium, pigment-based ink at much lower prices, with a black cartridge costing $10 and a color cartridge for $15.

Kodak Easyshare 5500

Consumers will be able to print for about half the cost of current inkjet printers. On average, having spent $15 on a color cartridge, you will be able to make about 105 4x6 inch photos compared to about 48 4x6 inch photos from competing inkjets. For a $10 black ink cartridge, the Kodak printers can do about 349 pages versus the 145 pages that the competitors can print. A Kodak Photo Value Pack will be available, which includes a color cartridge and a 180 sheets of Kodak photo paper, that will cost 10 cents per print.

Kodak Easyshare 5100

Kodak rolled out three printers:

• The KODAK EASYSHARE 5100 All-in-One Printer ($149.99 US MSRP), featuring print, scan and copy capabilities, delivers high-quality documents and photos for users who enjoy printing without limitations. The device 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 the perfect solution for home-office users and connected families who want to do it all with no constraints. 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.

Kodak Easyshare 5300

The 5100 and 5300 printers will be available in March 2007, exclusively at Best Buy stores. The 5500 printer will start shipping in May 2007. You'll also be able to order from www.kodak.com starting in April 2007.

To help launch the new printers, Kodak will be having a launch event today in New York City at NBC Studios and they've launched a web site (www.inkisit.com) to provide a little entertainment while they educate consumers about the high priced ink industry. The site has 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.