This time in '99: 350 jobs go as HP outsources printer manufacturing

This is how the original story broke in 1999:

Up to 350 Hewlett-Packard (HP) employees are to lose their jobs, as the IT giant outsources the manufacture of some of its desktop printers.

The jobs will go at HP's manufacturing plant in Washington, US where the firm's DeskJet and InkJet 2000C printers are made. The first 100 jobs will go within three months.

John Collins, senior analyst at Bloor Research, said: "The hardware world is cut-throat." He explained that HP, and the printer world in general, has always used technology from other companies in order to keep prices down.

Collins said the move is part of a strategy common to printer makers. "Get the initial cost [of making printers] down and reap the rewards with high price consumables. It's the consumables that make the money. Once you've gone through five cartridges at £20 a go, you've doubled the price of your bargain £100 printer."