Snapfish by HP Celebrates 10th Anniversary by Opening Platform to Designers and Developers

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Snapfish by HP announced it will open its application programming interface (API) to allow creative individuals and businesses to be part of the evolution of its leading online personal publishing service.

The initiative – called Snapfish Publisher – will allow designers, developers and printing partners to reach more than 85 million registered users through the worldwide Snapfish network, while delighting new and existing consumers with a broader yet more specialized portfolio of customizable options that meet a myriad of creative needs and personal preferences.

When Snapfish Publisher officially launches this summer, it will serve as a platform for individuals and companies to market and sell their creative designs, merchandise and services. This enables content contributors as well as Snapfish to capture a greater share of the more than $1 billion market for online photo ordering projected in the United States this year, of which more than 60 percent will consist of photo merchandise.⁽¹⁾

"We’ve had an incredible 10 years building a global family that has chosen Snapfish to share, preserve and print their memories in fun, easy and imaginative ways,” said Ben Nelson, general manager, Snapfish by HP. "This year, we’re rewarding our customers and opening the doors to new audiences by empowering designers and developers to go beyond photos and be part of the future of Snapfish. We are propelling personal publishing to new creative heights by making Snapfish the place that is both inspired and developed by its members.”

Snapfish, the No. 1 online personal publishing service, also announced:

• The service’s first licensed content relationship with iconic media brand LIFE, enabling consumers to order printable merchandise featuring images from the legendary LIFE photo archives.
• Ten days of celebratory sales and fun activities on www.snapfish.com/birthdaybash to thank people for choosing Snapfish.

Open API to showcase, merchandise work of budding creatives

The worldwide creative photo merchandise market – which includes photo books, calendars, greeting cards, scrapbook pages and more – is expected to grow by a compound annual growth rate of nearly 40 percent from 2009 through 2013.⁽²⁾ Snapfish Publisher presents developers and designers with a tremendous opportunity to better meet widespread consumer demand and inspire people to do more in terms of personal expression and, ultimately, drive sales and revenue.

Snapfish Publisher allows designers to tap into this market by accessing the technical specifications needed to upload and submit their creative concepts and to begin developing their own designs for sale via the Snapfish network. The open platform will roll out in phases and eventually evolve into three primary "store fronts” to meet the unique needs of designers, developers and printing partners.

• This summer, a select group of designers will launch new templates for cards, followed by photo books. Later this year an open invitation will be extended for everyone to get creative and submit designs for an expanding range of products – helping alleviate the frustration many experience when searching for the "perfect” card or gift.
• Beginning this fall, developers can monetize their creativity by uploading and merchandising applications for personal publishing products that encourage customization and imagination.
• Also this fall, printing partners will be able to submit and sell their own products through the Snapfish network of sites as printable merchandise, a category that continues to see robust growth.

"By opening its API, Snapfish has the power to differentiate itself in an increasingly competitive market by giving consumers expanded creative choices that go way beyond photos,” said Alan Bullock, associate director, Internet Imaging Trends, InfoTrends. "Snapfish Publisher has the potential to be a game changer for the industry, fueling growth for Snapfish as well as artists and designers around the world.”

In addition to enabling sales across its vast member base in 22 countries, Snapfish will reward content contributors with a competitive business model, cross-promotion in various marketing channels and a "crowdsource”-inspired interface that features best-selling designs most prominently.

Snapfish remains dedicated to making it as easy as possible for users to navigate the site. The company is making significant investments in improving its search and browsing capabilities, including the ability to search by various attributes such as designs, styles and colors.

Licensed content collaboration with LIFE expands growth opportunities

A new relationship with LIFE enables Snapfish to capitalize on the $30 billion market opportunity for print-based licensed merchandise⁽³⁾ by making iconic photographs from the LIFE archives available to Snapfish users.

This collaboration with LIFE, a first of its kind for Snapfish, builds upon HP’s (NYSE:HPQ) unrivaled portfolio of popular licensed content, including brand powerhouses Sony Music, Nickelodeon and the National Basketball Association (NBA). In building a portfolio of content partners, Snapfish plans to unlock new revenue streams and explore future growth opportunities in the consumer publishing market by combining its world-class publishing technology with content from LIFE and other popular brands.

Currently Snapfish offers greeting cards, note cards and notebooks using more than 100 of the world’s most renowned images from the LIFE archives. It plans to introduce more offerings that combine history’s greatest collective memories with users’ own in the coming months. Prices start at $1.99, and more information is available at www.snapfish.com/lifestore.

Tenth anniversary celebration features customer appreciation, rewards

Ten years and 10 billion printed images later, Snapfish has seen incredible growth by staying ahead of market trends and continually innovating to meet consumer needs – powering the transition from film processing to digital photo printing, driving the continual shift from home delivery to retail pickup, and enabling instantaneous memory sharing across a growing number of mobile and social networking platforms.

Snapfish remains committed to delivering more choice and ease of creation for its customers no matter where inspiration happens – at home, online, at retail or on the go.

To commemorate and celebrate its 10th anniversary, Snapfish is hosting a virtual birthday party at www.snapfish.com/birthdaybash with special anniversary discounts, promotions and giveaways to thank customers for sharing more than 10 billion of their most meaningful memories via the Snapfish network:

• Promotions will run April 1-10 and feature some of the most popular offerings from Snapfish, including custom photo books, personalized jewelry, collage mugs and 10-cent shipping.
• Prizes will include digital picture frames, Snapfish gift certificates, the HP Mini 311 Series, and the HP Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, the world’s first web-connected home printer, which features a Snapfish app for accessing and printing photo albums.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure to solve customer problems. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) InfoTrends, U.S. Forecast, 2010.

(2) IDC, "Worldwide Creative Photo Merchandise 2009-2013 Forecast: The Creative Print Bible,” February 2009.

(3) Based on a summer 2009 Research Study by The Licensing Letter, EPM Communications.

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