Michael Dell Promises Cheaper Printers

"The price for the total offering--printer and supplies--can come down quite considerably," said Dell. "If you look at any other market Dell has gone into, we have been able to significantly save money for customers."

Dell addressed analysts and executives Wednesday at the Gartner Symposium ITXPO.

Dell's foray into the printer business is a direct challenge to No. 1 printer maker Hewlett-Packard.

Dell, together with Lexmark, a printer manufacturer in Lexington, Ky., announced last month that they would codevelop Dell inkjet and laser printers and cartridges. Dell said his company's printer cartridges won't be compatible with HP's printers--probably stoking an already heated rivalry.

Companies like Lexmark, Hewlett-Packard, Canon and Epson generally follow a business model that sees them selling printers at a low price and making their profits on sales of ink cartridges.

On Tuesday, Carly Fiorina, CEO of No. 1 printer maker Hewlett-Packard, scorned Dell's plans, first announced last month, saying the computer maker wouldn't invest the needed research and development funds to enter the competitive industry.

Instead, Fiorina said, Dell would simply wind up being "a channel of distribution for somebody that owns this product. That's an interesting strategy, but is not one that produces real profitability."

Although Dell didn't directly address Fiorina's charge, he said: "We are a direct channel. We think that working directly with customers makes more sense."

He promised more details on the deal early next year.