Kodak Cracks the Photo Book Code, Enabling Retailers of All Sizes to Attack Premium Photo Market
By Eastman Kodak Company, PRNETuesday, September 21, 2010
New, Affordable, Compact Duplex Thermal Printer Delivers Stunning Photo Quality, Highly Profitable Borderless Premium Products
COLOGNE, Germany, September 22, 2010 - Photo retailers now have a ground-breaking, affordable new option for
expanding beyond 4×6 prints into the growing market for high-demand premium
photo products. Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) introduced today the newest
member of its family of thermal printers, the photo quality KODAK D4000
Duplex Photo Printer. The D4000 is a flexible, compact double-sided print
solution capable of producing high-quality borderless premium photo products,
such as photo books, calendars and personalized greeting cards. The new
printer works seamlessly with Kodak's industry leading retail equipment,
software and connectivity solutions.
"With our focus on transforming the photo department we are experiencing
a category renaissance, and consumers are re-connecting with printing to tell
their stories in exciting, meaningful and highly personalized ways," said
Nicoletta Zongrone, general manager of Retail Systems Solutions and vice
president, Eastman Kodak Company. "The new D4000 Duplex Photo Printer puts
retailers at the forefront of this trend, allowing them to deliver fantastic
borderless duplex products with industry leading print quality and
reliability they've come to expect from Kodak."
The KODAK D4000 Duplex Photo Printer uses the new duplex KODAK XTRALIFE
Photo Book Paper, which delivers superb photo print quality, with rich,
bright colors and sharp text, driving customer preference to higher value,
higher quality products. The new printer supports a broad selection of
double-sided KODAK Photo Book, Calendar and Greeting Card products. Photo
books and calendars can be produced in 8×12, 8×10, 8×8 and 6×8 formats in
landscape, portrait or square layouts that are compatible with many binding
styles including wire, staple and slide. Personalized, borderless flat
greeting cards can be produced in 6×8 inch and 4×8 inch sizes in either
landscape or portrait layouts.
According to Photographic Consultants Ltd., the global photo book market
alone will grow by 61% by 2012 to more than 103 million books(1), with Kodak
research showing that nearly 70% of consumers show a preference for receiving
their printed photo books in an hour or less(2). The D4000 aligns perfectly
with this profit opportunity, having been specifically designed to enable
retailers to attack this growth opportunity - it is expected to require only
one-third of the capital investment and will take less than half of the floor
space of most comparable retail duplex inkjet solutions. The powerful thermal
printer integrates seamlessly with KODAK Picture Kiosks G4 or later series,
KODAK Adaptive Picture Exchange (APEX) systems, and stand-alone PC
workstations, and is enabled for on-site fulfillment of orders taken in store
or online, further minimizing retailer investment and integration work.
The technology behind the new duplex printer is thermal dye sublimation,
which produces 2-sided high quality output up to 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 in.)
sizes in full photo quality. The D4000 media is superior to any duplex inkjet
solutions in water, stain and fingerprint resistance. Floor space friendly,
the compact D4000 device stands at 78.1 x 78.3 x 39.0 cm (30.8 x 30.8 x 15.4
in.) and weighs a mere 65 kg (143 lbs) unloaded, smaller than many retail
inkjet duplex dry printing solutions.
"With the merger of this new printer and our industry leading consumer
and retailer photo book software solutions, we believe that we're providing
retailers with the opportunity to finally crack the code of the right
printing system with the best consumer experience that will transform their
business potential," said Zongrone. "This is truly a very exciting time to be
in this industry."
The new KODAK D4000 Duplex Photo Printer will be available in Q2 of 2011.
For more information visit www.kodak.com/go/rss.
About Kodak
As the world's foremost imaging innovator, Kodak helps consumers,
businesses, and creative professionals unleash the power of pictures and
printing to enrich their lives.
To learn more, visit the newly redesigned www.kodak.com and follow
our blogs and more at www.kodak.com/go/followus.
(1) Source: Photographic Consultants Ltd. 2009
(2) Source: Kodak Photobook Research Study, July 2010
(c) Kodak 2010. KODAK and PYNK are trademarks of Eastman Kodak Company.
Jackie Mangione, Kodak, +1-585-967-7749, jacqueline.mangione at kodak.com, or Patrick Foarde, Ketchum, +1-440-879-9254, patrick.foarde at ketchum.com
Tags: Cologne, Eastman Kodak Company, Germany, September 22, Western Europe