Hewlett-Packard’s digital photo-sharing and printing service, Snapfish, is discontinuing business in India—marking an end to one part of its ‘retail photo printing’ gamble.
The PC maker had made a big splash during its initial entry into the Indian retail photo printing market in 2007.
The company had planned to establish a footprint of 3,000 retail photo outlets across the country, and had launched Snapfish in India to facilitate door-to-door delivery of printed photos through HP outlets. It is unclear at the moment how the exit of Snapfish will affect the company’s retail photo outlet strategy.
When contacted, a HP spokesperson confirmed the development and said that Snapfish was winding up its India business in an “effort to optimise its existing business model.” “Resources from this country will be reinvested to support the innovation of core Snapfish product offerings including photo books and cards in core countries,” the company spokesperson added.
The service, which will remove its service in India by the end of next month, also allowed customers to order photos printed onto various items such as key chains, mugs, and t-shirts.
Snapfish was also initially touted as offering ‘breakthrough’ pricing in the digital photo domain but its business model did not work for the Indian market, say industry watchers. Users will now be given a set period of time to complete any saved projects and place their final orders.
Snapfish was launched in 1999 by three U.S-based Indians, who later sold it to HP for nearly $300 million.
