HP Ink & Toner Cartridges and Supplies

In 1939, a small company named Hewlett Packard (HP) was born in a garage in southern California. Founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, two electrical engineering graduates from Stanford University, the company was started with a mere $538 and the assistance of an old professor and mentor of the two engineers. In 1947, the company was incorporated, and in 1957 went public. Although the well-known "HP" logo had been in use since 1941, the company did not file for it as a trademark until 1954.

At first, the company produced a wide range of products, including crystal detectors, frequency converters and harmonic wave analyzers, but their first extremely lucrative venture was the HP200A precision audio oscillator, which sold well for over 33 years. In the 1960s, HP moved into what is now known as "Silicon Valley," and is widely credited as one of its founders, though their research into semi-conductors came later than most of their competitors. Despite accolades for the accuracy and reliability of their technology, which had a greater precision level than other devices on the market, Hewlett Packard shifted into the burgeoning computer market in 1966. In 1968, they produced what is considered to be the first mass-market personal computer ever made.

HP chose to distance itself from the term "computer," as it had come to be associated closely with IBM, and instead called their device a calculator, even though it performed many of the same functions. HP eventually surpassed IBM as the world's largest technology vendor, based on sales data. It was in 1984 that HP made the jump into the computer peripheral market and began producing both inkjet and laser printers, as well as HP printer ink and HP toner. In addition, HP began working on scanner technology, and was one of the first to create single-unit fax/scanner/printer combination.

HP has enjoyed stellar sales of its LaserJet line of printers for almost 30 years, and proprietary HP toner for the machines has sold well. Almost all HP printers depend on Canon and Xerox technology for their actual print mechanisms, but both of those companies depend on HP hardware and software to convert data into dots. Although HP printer ink is formulated specifically to work with its printers, other options do exist, such as remanufactured print cartridges. These are designed following original equipment manufacturer (OEM) guidelines, and are often a more cost-effective alternative to original print cartridges. Many come with a guarantee of compatibility with the type of printer they are designed to function best with. Although HP has shifted its focus over the years from precise measuring devices to computers and adjunct devices, there is no question they have influenced the course of computing history.