How HP changed the World's perception of A0 paper

28 January 2014

Do you recall the older Designjet models such as the Designjet 430 or 450s? - Perhaps you may remember they were offered in two sizes: 24 inch or 36 inch (A1 or A0 size). What you may not appreciate however is that following these models HP unwittingly sparked a change in World history regarding the true size of A0 paper - Yes - shocking isn't it!

You see, after building the 4xx series, HP asked their normal question of consumers: "What will make this printer perform even better for you?" The people spoke and HP listened. The consumer trend in the U.S. was to ask for more space around their print..."a bigger printer please" was the resounding reply - and HP picked up the proffered gauntlet. If America wanted bigger and better, HP would give it to them! The next generation of A0 printers then went into production - the Designjet 500 range. The printer offered a new print width - 'out' went the old 36 inch width, and 'in' came the 42 inch width - the new breed of A0 printer.

Everyone was happy. The Designjet 500 printers were the most successful printer ever sold (in fact - we still see many businesses operating them today and of course we still hold all of the spare parts in order to repair them). But a strange phenomenon occurred. The industry got so used to the Designjet 500 A0 printers, that their perception of what constituted true A0 size began to distort. A0 size now meant 42 inches - and this size stuck deep within the British psyche!

After time, HP started to analyse their paper sales but something wasn't stacking up. The UK market didn't want or need the extra inches (apparently!). UK media/paper sales showed that most companies were still buying 36 inch wide paper - in fact this wasn't only happening in the UK - it was happening Worldwide. It transpired that bigger wasn't really better - it was just a waste of paper. Most companies were using 42 inch machines with 36 inch width paper.

So HP went back to their drawing boards and redesigned the 'Next Generation' A0 Printer. The latest models that you see today - which include the HP Designjet T920 and T1500 printers are both A0 printers, and have reverted back to HP's original A0 printer width of 36 inches wide. It was a shock to the industry. People had grown up with 42 inches as a standard A0 size print and now HP were making a smaller 36 inch version. Confusion reigned. One of our customers found it especially hard to accept. We had sent him a few free rolls of A0 paper with a Designjet 510 printer - but he sounded upset. "You've sent me 36 inch wide paper"...he accused. "Not the A0 size you promised. Could I have the 'proper' A0 size paper please...you know...the 42 inch wide stuff". Well far be it for us to fail to meet our customer expectations so this was duly shipped out - but we were perplexed.

Unwittingly, HP was responsible for changing the size of A0 paper - although they've now reverted back to their original 36 inch width machine. As we reflect on this, we suddenly realise that we've all lived through a little piece of history - for a moment in time, the size of A0 in the UK (as far as consumers were concerned) wasn't the ISO standard of 33.1 inches - nor was it 36 inch machines - it was absolutely 42 inches wide!