WEEKEND MFP INDUSTRY NOTES
11-2-08
The following is a quick review of copier/MFP industry news from industry publications.
IKON, in a special meeting, approved the sale of the company to Ricoh Corp. for $1.6 billion. This means that shareholders will receive $17.25 per share. (now IKON sales reps await an announcement from Canon, as to the future of that relationship)
Former IKON executive, Bill Carpou, was hired as Vice President of Sales & Marketing for Profit Recovery Partners, which is a national consulting organization for administrative cost reduction. (Ricoh had previously announced it would spend up to $18 million to keep IKON executives on staff)
If you are competing against the Ricoh Aficio C6000 color MFP (or its Lanier or Savin versions), important points to remember are:
While it does advertise 60ppm top speed for b/w, the color speed is only 55ppm
Does not offer true 8 bits per pixel
Paper drawers can only handle up to 80lb. cover (can not feed 10point postcard stock)
Paper drawers do not have automatic paper size sensors, and end user must lock paper guides into place
PostScript is an expensive option (because Ricoh outsources the manufacturing of its print controller)
Even if end user buys the expensive PostScript driver, it does not look anything like the PCL driver
Print drivers do not show paper or toner levels
When using PostScript driver, all paper in print job must come from same paper source
Maximum duty cycle is only 150,000 per month (as compared with 250K/month with bizhub C650)
Does not offer SNMPv3 or Transport Layer data security features
Hard drive overwrite capability is an option (is standard on C650)
Optional fax only provides 400x400dpi resolution
Fax option only has 4MB of memory
Comes standard with only 3 paper drawers (versus 4 on C650)
Document feeder can only handle up to 34llb bond paper
Optional booklet finisher can only make booklets up to 15 sheets
No tri-fold finishing option
Warmup time is 90 seconds (only 30 seconds with C650)
Takes at least 5.7 seconds for first b/w copy out time (versus 3.8 seconds with C650)
Can not change toner while C6000 is running
Can not interrupt a print job
Can only hold 8 copy jobs in queue
Can not tilt the control panel
LCD display does not have a contrast control
Control panel does not offer a help key
No EFI Fiery print server available as yet
Ricoh announced details on it last quarter’s financials:
expects sales to drop for first time in 15 years
sales are estimated at 2.15 trillion yen, down 3.2%
operating profit down 17.4% & net profit down 18.3%
Ricoh announced it will spend $20 million to open two large factory direct branch showrooms. Details:
Will focus on production printing
Be in Singapore and Australia
Between 6000 and 7500 square feet in size
Another copier scandal. This time it involves a public school district in Texas. Details:
District Attorney Fred Hernandez announced that all defendants were arrested and indictments returned
Arrests conducted by Texas Rangers
Involved the San Felipe/Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District
Those arrested included employees of Lone Star Copiers, a Xerox sales agent
People arrested are:
Marjorie Thetford, former risk management supervisor of the school district
Keith Sutherland, Chief Financial Officer of school district
Mathew Stavely, owner of Lone Star Copiers
Gilbert Gene Ayala, of Lone Star Copiers
Violations apparently committed on 12/16/2002
Charge is that Lone Star Copiers convinced school district that they were buying off an existing state government contract, when in fact it was not contract pricing that was offered
Contract resulted in school district being over-billed by more than $1 million dollars
Possible sentence is 5 to 99 years in prison
Involved 22 copiers that were acquired, and also the removal of the previous vendor’s copiers which were then apparently resold by Lone Star Copiers
When competing against the Xerox WorkCentre 7655 color MFP, remember these points:
Engine is made by Fujifilm of Japan
While b/w speed is 55ppm, the top color speed is only 40ppm
Does not offer true 8 bits per pixel
Top color scan speed of only 50ipm (instead of 70opm on bizhub C550)
No EFI Fiery print server option (end users instead must buy the Xerox DocuColor 252)
Comes standard with only 512MB RAM (versus 1GB on C550)
First copy out time for color is 8.9 seconds and 5.5 seconds for b/w
USB port is an option
Optional fax does not have battery backup to preserve inbound faxes
Paper drawers can only hold up to 110lb. index (can not handle 10point)
When changing paper size, must confirm the change on the control panel
Bypass does not have a paper size sensor
Maximum paper capacity of only 5,260 sheets
Optional booklet finisher can only make booklets up to 15 sheets
Fujifilm of Japan (maker of most of Xerox copiers and printers) announced the following financial news:
Company is feeling effects of reduced Xerox equipment sales
Will fire 1,250 employees to cut costs, or 5% of its workforce
Restructuring costs of 8 billion yet ($81 million)
Stock shares went down 6.4%
25% drop in profit
Will spend 35 billion buying back stock share to boost value
Metzgers Printing & Mailing of Ohio purchased a Xerox iGen4 production color system (MSRP is $640,000.00)
CDS Global, a print for pay in Iowa, announced it will buy a second Xerox iGen3 production color system to produce the SmartMoney mailer.
Xerox announced it will relabel a Samsung b/w laser MFP, and call it the WorkCentre 4260, running at 55ppm, but is A4.
Canon announced it will launch three new b/w production systems, the imagePRESS 1110, 1125 & 1135 offering:
all made by Canon (unlike existing high end b/w Canon systems, the imageRUNNER Pro+ 7000 series, which are actually relabeled Kodak-made products)
110ppm, 125ppm and 135ppm
Designed to compete against similar products from Ricoh
All are driven by optional EFI Fiery print server
When competing against the Canon imageRUNNER C5185i color laser MFP, key points to remember:
Has speed of 51ppm for b/w or color
Does not offer true 8 bits per pixel
Standard print controller only provides PCL print driver, so PostScript is an expensive option
Paper drawers can hold up to 110lb. index only (can not handle 10point)
Paper drawers do not have paper size sensors
Only comes standard with two paper drawers
First color copy out time of 8 seconds (versus 6.5 seconds on C550)
First b/w copy out time of 6. 2 seconds
Document encryption capability is not standard
Optional fax only has 400x400dpi and does not offer polling
Document feeder can only handle up to 34lb. paper
Optional booklet maker can only make booklets up to 15 sheets
Warmup time is 4 minutes (due to high heat of fuser)
Drums only have a life of 78,000 impressions (up to 300,000 on C550)
Black toner yield of only 27,0000 (versus 45K on C550)
Control panel does not tilt or swivel
Can not add toner while unit is running
Paper feeds through the middle of the engine
Canon is now shipping the imagePRESS C1+, which replaces the imagePRESS C1. The new model features:
Base MSRP of $31,500
Top color speed of 14ppm
Top b/w speed of 60ppm
Uses single OPC drum design
Offer Canon’s “V” toner (pulverized toner infused with wax, so no fuser oil)
1200x1200dpi (does not offer true 8 bits per pixel)
Multipass design
Uses 5 toners; cyan, magenta, yellow, black & clear
The clear toner allows engine to provide high gloss output
Can also be used for gloss watermarks, or spot gloss graphics
Print controllers choices include:
embedded EFI Fiery (relabeled as Canon imagePRESS Server T1v2)
external EFI Fiery (relabeled as Canon imagerPRESS Server Q2v2)
generic controller UFRII
can handle thick, glossy and textured stocks (due to its slow print speed)
Canon reported its last quarter’s financials:
Predicts its first profit fall in 9 years
Profit dropped 26%
Net income fell 21%
Sales dropped 6.2%
Stock has dropped 54%
Will cut R&D spending by 20 billion yen
Will buy back $508 million of its own stock to boost value
Canon announced a new program to allow its customers to service their own imagePRESS C6000/C6000VP/C7000VP production color systems:
Program is called; “Customer Productivity Program”
Unknown if Canon dealers or branches will offer lower cpc pricing as a result
Canon announced that one of its print for pay customers that owns an imagePRESS C7000VP, won an award for output from the production color system. The Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation gave a 2008 Premier Print Benny Award to Peake DeLancey Printers, LLC. Of Maryland for a customer piece named; “The Yards Oversize Retail Brochure”.
Toshiba announced more financial news:
99% drop in profits
Will spend $1 billion to buy equipment from SanDisk, which is a joint venture in California that makes flash drivers, to keep company afloat
Will post operating loss of 150 billion yen
Stock shares are down 59%
Toshiba announced that one of its dealers won a bid to supply managed print services:
For Offutt Nord, PLLC, a large firm with offices in West Virginia
Utilized PrintAudit software
Dealer was Aaron’s Products, Inc.
Will allow firm to increase billing by 200% in 4 month period
Cost of software captured in less than 2 months
Purchased 70 seats of PrintAudit
Replaced a Hecon system
The firm downloads data from PrintAudit in Microsoft Excel for billing clients
Toshiba announced it has authorized Collins Distributing Company to allow small copier dealers in the U.S. to acquire Toshiba MFPs for resale.
VistaPrint, a print for pay firm that specializes in selling full color variable data direct mail over the Internet, reported that its sales are up 44% to $114.2 million for last quarter.
Staples Corp., the office supply superstore chain, announced it has acquired a computer network services firm, Thrive Inc. of Concord, MA. Staples is using this acquisition to launch Staples Network Services across the U.S. (this follows Ricoh’s launch of a similar service from all their factory direct branches in the U.S.)
InfoTrends announced that only 2% of cut sheet paper is made by post-consumer recycled content in the U.S., and only 56% of paper consumed in the U.S. is recycled.
The Christian Science Monitor magazine has decided to cease producing the magazine in print, and instead will only offer content on-line.
Heidelberg of Germany (makers of offset presses) announced it may cut another 2,500 employees worldwide to cut costs due to declining sales.
Konica Minolta announced agreement to partner with Guided Therapeutics, Inc. to expand cancer detection technology using rapid and painless scanning methods.
More info on the new A4 color MFPs from Sharp, the “Frontier” series:
optional finisher can only staple up to 30 sheets maximum
Can not scan color to JPEG
Maximum of 38GB for document storage
Paper drawers can hold up to 28lb, paper only (no thick stock at all in drawers)
Can not auto duplex thick stock
Slow 11.5 second first color copy out time and 8.9 seconds for b/w
Main unit weighs only 107lbs. (is there any metal used at all?)
Has 19 different supply items
Top scan speed of only 35ipm
Looking for information on the level of data security for a competitor’s MFP? The best place to find this information is the JISEC website, which lists devices that have Common Criteria Certification. Go to http://www.ipa.go.jp/security/jisec/jisec_e/certified_p...cts/certfy_list.html For example:
Sharp MFPs certifies only 5 functions at EAL2
Konica Minolta certifies 14 functions at EAL3 for Konica Minolta bizhub C353
EFI announced an updated version of its Digital StoreFront web to print software for print shops or CRDs. Version DSF 4.0 offers new features:
More powerful variable data printing features
Superwide format color inkjet options
Enhanced integration
Fulfillment module
EFI claims that DSF is being used in over 3,000 locations
Multi-record data list upload
PPML support
Tighter integration with print management solutions
Can store and modify usage of one or more records within data set for VDP job creation
Image galleries diplayed in single window as thumbnails
Supports FusionPro and XMPie variable data software
State of the art pricing engine
Xante’ of Alabama, announced a new product called the Illumina Digital Envelope Press+ featuring:
Can print up to 60 full color, #10 envelopes per minute
500 piece envelope tray
Can print on window envelopes
Can also print on up to 12”x18” paper
Auto duplex for paper
Includes built-in print controller with PostScript print driver
Based on Okidata-made color LED page printer
Top speed of 36ppm full color on paper
Optional extended warranties do not include consumer replaceable components (toner, drums, fuser, etc.)
Okidata launched a new desktop color LED page printer, the C830 series offering:
Up to 52” long banners
Up to 12” x18” paper size handling
Handles up to 220gsm paper weight
Base MSRP of $2199
Optional auto duplex
Built-in print controller
Optional network interface
Single paper drawer standard (can add second 530 sheet drawer)
Up to 30ppm color and 32ppm b/w speeds
1200x600dpi (does not offer true 8 bits per pixel)
Optional extended warranties do not include supplies
Lexmark announced it hired former Xerox executive, Robert Patton, as VP and General Counsel.
Oce’ announced it will relabel the Brother MFC-9840CDW desktop color laser MFP and call it the Oce’ cx2100.
NEC announced it will relabel the Konica Minolta bizhub C200 as the NEC ViVid Office 2020.
Kyocera announced that IKON will no longer sell its b/w laser MFPs.
According to industry author, John Dvorak, Dell Computer is considering acquiring Lexmark, so that combined, they could better compete against HP.
According to a recent industry magazine article, NewCal, a dealer in San Francisco area which sold out to Canon, was actually preparing to sell to Xerox (Global), but that Canon came in at the last minute and outbid Xerox by 20%.
Panasonic is entering negotiations to buy Sanyo. (Sanyo once made copiers in the 1980s)
Original Post