Dell has long been known for rock bottom system prices, but now they seem bent on taking over the printer market, as well. You may remember that Dell and Lexmark partnered on printer sales recently and this is the first indication that Dell had a plan to back that up. The very aggressive $99 price of their new laser printer is sure to rile tempers in the under-$100 market formerly reserved for inkjets.

The computing giant introduced its Dell Laser Printer 1100 on Tuesday. The device handles up to 15 pages a minute with a resolution of 600 dpi. Analysts predict competitors ranging from Hewlett-Packard to Lexmark will feel the pressure to offer something comparable, given that their low-end monochrome lasers start at roughly twice that price. “Dell’s laser is a disruptive price,” said Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Co., adding, “This could cause more consumers to shift over to laser.”

I think the real question here is not about this printer being ‘disruptive’, but why it took so long for laser printer prices to drop to this point. The price is perfectly reasonable and should spur another sales spike for Dell.

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