Hewlett-Packard Co has given Siemens AG’s Siemens Information Systems Inc a $40m OEM order for high-speed, light-emitting diode page printers and the two companies signed for joint development of interfaces. Hewlett-Packard will offer the printers for manufacturing, insurance, medical, distribution, government, telecommunications, direct mail and the like customers that typically print hundreds of thousands to millions of letter-quality pages per month. The new printers will connect to Hewlett-Packard multi-user computers and will offer company-specific hardware and software interfaces: Hewlett and Siemens will jointly develop plug-compatible interfaces for local connection of HP 3000 and HP 9000 RISC-based computers. The new printer family will complement the 20 pages-per-minute HP LaserJet 2000 and the HP Model 2680A laser printer that does 45 ppm. The range will include both cut sheet and continuous-forms printers running at greater than 45 ppm at 300 dots per inch. Products, prices and availability will be announced in first half 1991.
