WEEKEND MFP INDUSTRY NOTES
8-10-08
The following is a quick review of copier/MFP industry news from industry publications.
- Hewlett Packard announced that a print shop is using a new HP Indigo 5000, to create variable data, full color promos for Nestle’ ice cream. Customers are given access to a website, where they upload a photo of their kid’s baseball team and statistics, and then receive a pack of 16 baseball cards, with names stats, sent to their home, that was printed on the Indigo in full color.
- Hewlett Packard, in a cost cutting move due to declining revenue, announced that it will lay off 300 workers at its inkjet printer plant in Corvallis, Oregon. (are businesses finally realizing how much they are spending on ink?)
- Hewlett Packard apparently is considering a new plan to boost its sales of office MFPs. Since it can no longer count on DANKA or IKON to move its products, it has approached the on-line computer retailing giant, CDW (Computer Discount Warehouse). Supposedly it is giving CDW the funds to hire 110 people to telemarket businesses in the U.S. to focus on HP product only. Unknown if this will also include the slow-selling HP Edgeline inkjet MFP products.
- Street pricing seen in the print for pay market:
o Xerox DocuColor 242 (40ppm color laser MFP) with embedded Fiery for $24,200 with color clicks at $0.05 and b/w clicks at $0.008. 11”x17” billed as one click.
o Xerox DocuColor 242 with Creo controller & stapling finisher for $35,500 with color clicks at $0.049 and b/w clicks at $0.0129. 11”x17” billed as one click.
o Canon imageRUNNER C5185 (51ppm) with embedded Fiery controller & booklet maker with hole punch for $18,400 with color clicks at $0.065 with b/w clicks at $0.0095. 11”x17” billed as one click.
o Canon imageRUNNER 7095 (95ppm b/w) with Fiery controller, booklet maker finisher, large paper deck, hole punch & cover inserter for $26,400 with b/w clicks at $0.0039 with 125K/month minimum. 11”x17” billed as one click.
o Ricoh Aficio MP9000 (90ppm b/w) with print controller, booklet maker, hole punch & large paper desk for $29,000 with b/w clicks at $0.004. 11”x17” billed as one click.
o Xerox 4112 (110ppm) with Fiery controller & booklet maker for $38,200 with b/w clicks at $0.00615 with 125K/month minimum. 11”x17” billed as one click.
- Is anyone upgrading their computers to Microsoft Windows Vista? According to Hewlett Packard, the majority of the computers it sells are equipped, at customer’s request, with the older Microsoft Windows XP system.
- Info revealed from a conference call that IKON’s CEO, Matt Espe, held with the press:
o Company has moved from OMD to Oracle for operating system that runs company
o Color equipment revenue up12%
o Color placements up 7%
o Color equipment is now 38% of total units
o B/w revenue is down 11%
o Sold 39 of the Canon imagePRESS C7000VP’s last quarter
o 7% of the MIF (machines in field) are still analog
- According to industry analysts, there are 230,000 fewer workers at print shops today in the U.S., as compared to 1998.
- A copier causes a fire to burn down a business. The Writers Building, in Kolkara, India, was consumed by flames, and an investigation revealed it was caused by an overheating copier that was left on overnite. The make and model were not revealed.
- John Buonomo was arrested for stealing thousands of dollars worth of coins from coin-op copiers at the Registry of Deeds in Middlesex County, Massachusetts.
- Business Equipment Research & Testing Laboratory (BERTL) announced it is moving to 363 Route 46 West, Fairfield, NJ.
- Dell Computer announced it would relabel three more A4 color laser desktop products:
o Dell 2135cn, offering 12ppm top speed color and 16ppm b/w
o Dell 2130cn, offering 16ppm top speed color and 20ppm b/w
o Dell 3130cn, offering 26ppm top speed color and 31ppm b/w
o Optional extended warranties doe not include supplies
o Most likely all three are made by Fuji of Japan
- Toshiba gave out its “Toshiba Certified Innovation Dealer Award” to Hagan Business Machines of Pennsylvania for use of creative marketing and customer service.
- FMAudit Corp. announced its printer/MFP meter tracking system will be used by Pacific Office Automation, a large, multi-city copier dealer. The WebAudit product allows a POA sales rep to go to a customer’s office, log on to a FMAudit website, and collect meters from devices on network without need for a USB key. In addition, the “Agent” product allows collecting meters from printers even if they are only connected locally to a PC, and not on the network.
- VistaPrint, a huge on-line print shop, announced that its revenues increased by 52% during the last quarter. Average order is 33,000 pieces.
- Kodak, in a cost cutting move, announced plans to cut benefits for 20,000 of its employees who retired. It plans on ending dental and life insurance, as well coverages for spouses. This only affects people who retired after 10/1/91.
- Four young men were arrested when they tried to use fake $20 bills they made on a color copier to purchase late night snacks from a McDonald’s drive through, in Watsonville, CA.
- In a downsizing move, Xerox will move out, and Northrup Grumman will move into the former Xerox Centre, in El Segundo, CA. The building is 333,000 square feet.
- Xerox announced that the person in charge of all of its research and development, Ms. Sophia Vandebroek, runs the division (in U.S., France & Canada) from her home outside of Boston, MA.
- Even though he was recently appointed to the board of directors of Xerox, Chuck Prince, formerly of Citigroup, has to yet to acquire the required minimum amount of Xerox stock to retain the position.
- Xerox in trouble again with federal government? The Government Accountability Office, investigated bids that were awarded using the Small Business Administration’s program for businesses in economically distressed areas, or HUBZones (Historically Underutilized Business Zone). Apparently, some Xerox employees had setup virtual offices or rented mailboxes in poor communities solely to obtain a HUBZone address to win a bid. These contracts were worth millions of dollars.
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