HP eyes reshaping print future in China

HP Inc is stepping up efforts to tap into China's printing market, while positioning the country as an indispensable hub for its manufacturing and innovation, a senior executive said.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Anneliese Olson, president of imaging, printing, and solutions at HP, delivered a strong reaffirmation of the company's long-term commitment to the Chinese market.

She clearly articulated a "glocal" strategy — combining global technological expertise with deep local partnerships — to adapt to the evolving printing landscape and lead the industry into an AI-driven future of work.

Olson spoke highly of HP's manufacturing base in Weihai, Shandong province, which underscores the strategic importance of China in HP's global operations.

"Weihai is a very important place to our global supply chain. It's the largest print manufacturing location we have," Olson said. "Annually, it's about 12 million printers that move off the Weihai factory, and it helps us in our entire ecosystem to maintain a resilient supply chain here."

When asked about the potential of the Chinese market amidst the complex international environment, Olson said, "First of all, China is a very important market for our business globally and locally to make sure that we're serving our customers here."

She also pointed to concrete growth indicators, such as the 2-3 percent expansion in the ink tank market in the first half of 2025, and significant opportunities in industrial-scale digital printing for applications like flexible packaging and commercial printing.

According to data from market research firm International Data Corp, the market revenue of China's domestic digital industrial printers reached 3.94 billion yuan ($553 million) in the first half of 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent.

Olson emphasized that HP welcomes competition from local enterprises. "We welcome competition. It's great to have a healthy, competitive ecosystem because it really pushes innovation for everybody," she said.

The senior executive is also optimistic about the role of AI in HP's broader "Future of Work" vision. She noted that the strategy is built around four pillars: developing AI-powered devices, enabling seamless connectivity between devices, assisting IT leaders manage and secure device fleets, and crucially, simplifying user experiences through AI.

In the printing sector, this translation of this concept from ideas to reality is already well underway. Olson provided vivid examples: "Somebody walking up to a large office device and being able to scan to PDF … With AI, we can get you that summary, you can search that summary, and you already know what's in the document, so you don't have to waste any time."

She also mentioned that AI can ensure perfect print output in a single attempt, promote sustainability by reducing wasted pages, and optimize workflows for industrial printing service providers.

"We are 100 percent in the belief that it is about AI as an enabler, not a replacement … AI is about taking the tedious, repetitive work … so that the kind of work that you can do is about focus. It puts you in a state of flow," she explained, envisioning a future where AI functions as a personalized assistant, one that adapts by learning user habits.

Li Tao, dean of a social management research institute at Beijing Normal University, said that the widespread application of AI across various industries will undoubtedly create numerous new professions and job opportunities for society, thereby promoting the upgrading of the job market.

masi@chinadaily.com.cn