The company has launched a version of its consumer online photo service, HP Snapfish, which has been customised for the Indian market.

Speaking at the launch, V Krishnan, general manager, consumer sales, imaging & printing group (IPG) of HP India Sales said that the launch of Snapfish in India brings HP closer to realising its vision for creating an all-digital photography marketplace.

He said the company will establish a footprint of 3000 retail photo outlets with HP Retail Photo Solutions by 2010. HP will enable photo delivery through Snapfish across the country, and hopes to redefine the dynamics of the photo printing market.

The Indian Snapfish will offer consumers free online photo sharing, unlimited online photo storage, and professionally developed digital camera prints for starting at Rs2.95 for the 4x6 size.

New customers will receive 20 free prints when sign up as a Snapfish member, with no obligations.

According to a press release by the company, HP Retail Photo Solutions will offer end-to-end digital photography printing services, with high quality HP photos that last 5 times longer than traditional photos.

The HP Retail Photo Solution will allow consumers to print on various substrates such as art paper, canvas and can also print instant photo albums.

Consumers can print photo based gifts, and see their favourite photos on key chains, mugs, T-shirts, mouse pads, photo greeting cards, posters, calendars and coasters at the HP Retail Photo Outlet, or can place an order on the HP Snapfish website.

HP will work with retail partners to roll out HP Retail Photo Solutions across locations such as supermarkets, photo specialty stores, electronics stores, office product stores and traditional photo service stores.

According to V Narayanan, director, retail photo solutions, IPG, HP APJ, the company hopes to provide a profitable business proposition for the retailers by driving down costs while offering their customers more choice, improved flexibility, better quality and price.

The brand identity of the HP Retail Solution will be a Multi-Colour Swirl with the punch line ''Celebrate Life with HP Photos''.

The HP Retail Photo Solutions comprises the HP Photosmart Studio and HP Photosmart pm1000 Microlab Printer.

The HP Photosmart Studio caters to high-volume printing of photos and creative projects such as posters, albums, calendars, and greeting cards in as little as an hour.

The HP Photosmart pm1000 Microlab is for high-speed 4 x 6-inch printing.

Talking about the launch of Snapfish in India, Bala Parthasarthy, vice president, online imaging, IPG, HP APJ said, "Snapfish has gained popularity globally and we expect to do the same in India. It will change the way consumers ''click-print-share'' photos in India. We have customized Snapfish to the needs of the Indian consumers with breakthrough pricing of Rs2.95 per print in the photo printing domain."

Snapfish is the leading online photo service worldwide, with over 40 million members in 15 countries, and adds a quarter of a billion new pictures per month.

Initially launched in the United States in April 2000 with the vision of helping people preserve, enjoy and share their most valuable memories. HP acquired Snapfish in April 2005.

According to Gartner, the market size of digital camera in India was $110 million in 2006, and was expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20-22 per cent through 2011.

The number of mobile users in India will be more than double in the next five years, growing from 185 million to 462 million in 2011. Camera phones, with increasingly better photo quality, are hugely popular in India.