The Hp Vivera MK ink that was developed about 8 years ago has a dmax of about 1.8, so what Epson has done with a "blacker" black isn't even catching up to the innovations HP figured out almost a decade ago.
Their color inks won't come close to the longevity of the Vivera pigments either, but might be improved and close to Canon.
What will be interesting is the new 11880 replacement that as Aaron mentioned might be great ( if it doesn't waste ink and have the vacuum problems they have now. The rumor is Epson will add one more gray to that printer ( but not the 44" machine?) making it a truly evenly spaced quad inkset, with all the color inks needed for any toning. That would in my opinion be in the category of an innovation. If it didn't clog I'd buy one. There haven't been any significant innovations from Epson in a long time. The MK to PK ink waste and hassle switching is just an embarrassment at this point in time. The world has moved on from all that crap.
As for Hp being out of the printing biz, that is hardly the case yet. They are out of the photo amateur biz and never produced a usable desktop model, but as far as large format models go they have had several new systems released in the past few years that seem to be selling well.
The fact is HP, Canon, and Epson are going to be fighting over the design and display market, where Roland will probably be wiped out completely, and that is sad because they are the only company besides Mimaki, that makes a truly professional inkjet printer for the high resolution photo market. The design world is where the money is, not in "fine art photo" media and inks, at least for big printers. These days fine art is anything you can put on a wall that will last six months. I'm afraid the days of the Zone System and Paul Caponigro subtlety is ancient history for 99% of photo artists working now. The people doing that kind of work are getting older and older.
I keep hearing these ads on the radio that Epson is doing, promoting their dye-sublimation printers that cater to the fashion industry. Print your own textile designs from home, be your own designer. You don't hear ads on the radio from Epson or Canon talking about printing your own high-longevity photographs for galleries and museums, collections, and portfolios, that's old fashioned, like many of us old timers.
I don't see why HP can't continue to made and sell the Z3200 or a slight modification of as it's photo printer. It uses most all the same parts, and many of the inks as it's design printers. It has not been eclipsed by anything Epson or Canon has come up with in the last 7 years or so, and it uses far less ink, that lasts at least twice as long as the other two brands...... However, if they are trying to market this machine to artists they certainly are doing a pathetic job of it. Like the news, it's all a matter of ratings you know.