HP sharpens focus on digital photography with purchase of Snapfish
Hewlett-Packard Co. has acquired online photo service Snapfish, which has 14 million registered users. HP says it will develop direct web site links and cross-marketing plans to tie Snapfish.com closely to HPShopping.com and its sales of digital cameras and related products. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Snapfish, which launched as an online photography service in 1999, sees the acquisition as a way to build a unique offering in the photography market. “This combination of HP’s leadership in digital imaging and home printing with Snapfish’s leadership in online photography will provide our customers with an expanded mix of quality, value and choice that we believe no comparable business can provide,” said Snapfish president Ben Nelson, who will continue to lead Snapfish as a new division of HP.
Snapfish offers a mix of services that include free online storage and sharing of digital photos and, for a fee, printing of digital photos and processing of photographic film. To help promote its new status as part of HP, Snapfish and HP have already started e-mailing coupons good for discounts on HP cameras and printers and free shipping of photos printed by Snapfish.
Snapfish, which says it’s gaining 500,000 new members per month, also makes its service available through other retailers. Circuit City Stores Inc. began offering Snapfish in January as a service within the digital photography section of CircuitCity.com. To use Snapfish, CircuitCity.com shoppers click a link that takes them to Snapfish.com.
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