MarketSplash, Schmarket Splash. Watch out HP, you are going to get blindsided again.

The new thing is that they are pitching design business with a Bolt-on Franchise. Sound like a printernet?

Got an existing design business?

Investigate opening a printing.com Bolt-on Franchise. It lets you get on with running your existing print, design or marketing business, while adding a great new facet. Use our branding, methodology, technology and production capabilities to sell full-color printing at the same low prices that our stores do. It’s a powerful proposition.

Printing.com (follow the click from the snippet below) is using a printernet user network business model. They started in the UK and are now setting up stores in the US and France. The competition are the franchises.

MarketSplash, meanwhile, is still trapped by a value chain mindset. Maybe they will stumble on to the right approach with the White Label version. Maybe they won't. But in any case, user network models have the David advantage in the battle between the Davids and the Goliaths.

Whether you call it the printernet or the schminternet it still means more clicks for OEMs. But it also means the globals don't control channels. They just make stuff and supply the intelligence that printers need.

About printing.com:
"We Like To Do Things Differently

We started from a clean slate. You told us what you want. We designed ourselves around your demands. Everything we do is geared towards offering the best possible service at the lowest possible price. We also cook a mean risotto.
Local Service

printing.com full color printing is available from our dedicated stores and franchise partners. Stores are opening near you – find your nearest location with our Store Finder, or call 1-877-858-8732. It’s an ever-expanding network and sometimes even we lose track."