WEEKEND MFP INDUSTRY NOTES
2-8-08
The following is a quick review of copier/MFP industry news from various trade publications.
- Oce’ launched its new VarioPrint 4000 production b/w series, which includes the VP4110 and VP4120:
- Uses CopyPress technology
- Low heat reduces limitations on media
- Does not slow down when running thick stock
- Single charge reduces static buildup
- Does not use developer
- VP4110 offers top speed of 106ipm for $39,961 MSRP
- VP4120 offers top speed of 120ipm for $45,961 MSRP
- Rated for 1.5 million impressions per month (max of 2.5 million/month)
- Both versions run 51ipm for 11’x17”
- 600x1200dpi with 141 lpi
- Back to front registration guaranteed at 0.5 mm
- Void area of average of 2mm on all 4 edges
- Comes standard with Paper Input Module
- 4 paper drawers
- Handles sizes from 8”x8” to 12”x18”
- All support tab stocks
- All drawers can be used for post process insertion
- Automatic tray linking for continuous operation
- Air separation and vacuum paper feed from all drawers
- Can refill paper on the fly
- Top two drawers hold up to 600 sheets
- Bottom two drawers hold up to 1700 sheets
- Option allows these two drawers to hold two stacks of 1700 letter size sheets
- Optional second Paper Input Module
- Available in Fall of 2009
- Same as standard Paper Input Module except the top paper drawer is replaced by a pass thru
- Large touch screen color LCD display on armature
- Control panel includes a Scheduler feature that shows time allotted to complete jobs in queue
- Comes standard with scanner for copy and scan operations
- Top speed of 56ipm
- Face down feeding
- Double feed detection
- Optional standard with 6000 sheet stacker for $17,000 MSRP
- Optional Set Finisher bolts to top of the stacker unit for $9800 MSRP
- 3 trays, 4000 sheet capacity
- Up to 100 sheet staple
- Optional Die Punch
- 3 or 4 hole punch
- Punch for wire, comb, velobind of proclick binding
- Optional Multi-format stapler for $14,500 MSRP
- 50 sheet stapling
- Corner or side stapling
- 2,000 sheet capacity
- Other finishing options include GBC punch, booklet maker or perfect binder
- Two embedded print controller options
- Standard controller with 1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive with Intel Celeron processor
- High End controller with 2GB RAM, 160GB hard drive with Intel Dual Core processor
- $400 optional PCL
- $1400 optional PostScript
- Includes DPLink to print Xerox DocuTech language files
- Oce’ announced it has sold three of its VarioPrint 6160 production b/w systems to Municipal Code Corporation of Tallahassee, FL, which is a printshop that specializes in government publishing.
- Fuji Film of Japan announced a 10.9% drop in revenue due to reduced sales of Xerox product, which the company makes. The company also announced it would increase spending on research and development by 7.5%. President Tadahito Yamamoto stated; “We will still continue to sell copier based machines and printers, but we want to be known as a total solutions and services company dealing in office and document management rather than just a copier company. Hence, research and development and new technology are very important to us.”
- Canon announced it sold its Canon Technology Solutions division (managed IT) to Ciber Inc. of Greenwood Village, CO., which also has offices in Europe and Asia.
- Canon managing director, Masahiro Osawa, predicts that the company will report a large loss for first quarter of 2009.
- Panasonic announced it will lose $3.9 billion for year 2008, its first loss in 6 years.
- Danka Business Systems PLC asked its shareholders to approve a voluntary liquidation for the second time since it sold off its business to Konica Minolta. The vote will be on 2/19/09 to distribute the $6.5 million that it is left from the sale after debts were paid off.
- Sharp was ordered by the Fair Trade Commission to pay a fine of 261 million yen for attempting to fix prices with Hitachi of color LCD displays sold to Nintendo for its game consoles.
- Apparently Sharp employees are volunteering to teach a class to elementary schools about global warming. (most likely Sharp gets to hand out their solar calculators)
- Fujitsu announced it will close its hard drive manufacturing plant and layoff 360 employees
- In a survey conducted by Gartner of 443 production print managers, they were asked on a scale of 1 to 7, which technology offers the best image quality:
- Toner: 5.68
- Liquid Ink (HP Indigo): 5.40
- Inkjet: 5.24
- Offset Press: 5.17
- First time ever that toner based production color output was favored over offset
- Xerox announced it will try a new managed print services to market its wax-based color printers & AIOs, the Phaser 8860 and the Phaser 8860MFPs
- Hybrid Color Plan #1
- Three meters collected
- $0.0169 for b/w and “useful” color pages (color text or small color logo)
- $0.039 for “everyday” color pages (web page prints)
- $0.079 for “expressive” color pages (heavy color)
- Hybrid Color Plan #2
- Two meters collected
- $0.0169 for b/w and “useful” color pages
- $0.059 for “everyday” and “expressive” color pages
- Xerox signed on as official sponsor of the DOCUMENT Strategy Forum event in Chicago, IL on 10/5-7/09 to promote document management.
- Xerox makes a change in one of its Global locations. Mike Hosking, formerly a Xerox executive in Rochester, NY, was named the new president of Capitol Office Solutions of Columbia, MD.
- Street price recently seen in the print for pay market:
- Xerox DocuColor 242 w/bookletmaker for $348.15/month on 60month FMV lease
- Optional EFI Fiery for $104.86/month
- Color clicks @ $0.049
- B/w clicks @ $0.008
- Xerox send out a full color direct mail piece to customers across the country, with the tag line “Learn how to cut document costs by up to 30% or more!”. End users who respond and request info from Xerox are entered into a drawing for several Sony Bravia 40” HDTV sets. The promo claims lucrative trade-in dollars for existing competitive MFPs.
- A company named RITI claims it will introduce a printer that uses old coffee grounds to create the image.
- The U.S. Graphic Design Business study shows:
- 11% increase in graphic design establishments by 2013
- 13% increase in graphic design employees
- 2% growth in graphic design revenue
- 20% growth in graphic design freelancers
- Hewlett Packard, in an effort to boost sluggish sales, announced a trade-in program:
- Trade-in credit of up to $1000.00 off purchase price of new LaserJet (b/w or color)
- Trade-in can be any make and model
- HP claims it will “recycle” the trade-in laser printer
- Does not apply to inkjet printers
- Rochester Software Associates (RSA) announced the “Print Stimulus Package” where it has lowered the pricing of its web-to-print software for the print-for-pay industry. Customers can now get its WebCRD for as little as $19,995.00
- New technology to replace laser engines? Inventor Peter Salmon has introduced “Solid State Printing”
- Salmon Technologies Inc. is located in Mountainview, CA
- Does not use a drum or a laser printhead
- Promises high speed printing at a much lower cost
- Has not yet attracted investors
- Uses integrated circuits to attract toner to transfer roller
- The integrated circuits employs electrode structures on glass substrates with electrodes driven by solid state devices
- Electrodes are driven by 40 volt traveling waves (VTW)
- Each electrode applies one toner particle at a time
- Uses traditional fusing method
- Uses polymerized toner technology
- Can image both sides of paper at same time
- A printer with a 36” wide print width would consist of 86,400 writing channels per head
- Each channel includes a 10 micron micro print engine
- 2400x2400dpi
- Top speed of 200 feet per minute
- Machine would take up 16 square feet of floor space
- After a misleading article appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Kodak CEO, Antonio Perez was forced to deny the implications that it was going to sell off its copier division (the NexPress production color system and the DigiMaster production b/w equipment). He stated; “We are not thinking of divesting any of those businesses.”
- Microsoft signed a patent sharing agreement with Brother. It has signed similar deals with other MFP makers, HP, Samsung, Fuji, Epson and Kyocera. “Our partners and customers continue to demand collaboration as they run increasingly diverse IT environments using technology and solutions that rely on both proprietary and open source code” said Microsoft’s David Kaefer.
- Toshiba announced it will allow 16,700 employees to take second jobs while they are temporary leave.
- eCopy announced that it will allow IRIS Group to resell its product. IRIS makes the OCR engine that is used in eCopy products since 1998.
- Printable Technologies Inc. announced it will make PURLs more affordable. Personalized URLs (PURLs) are essential to variable data direct mail printing, where the end user can respond to an offer by entering a website that uses their name (i.e. www.jimsmithoffer.com). Originally costing $5000 for FusionPro Links software and $0.02 for each PURL created, the price was reduced to $995 with unlimited PURls.
- Ricoh announced new programs to get software companies to develop applications that can be embedded into new Ricoh MFPs. The Ricoh Developer Program (RiDP) now features:
- Java based Embedded Software Architecture
- DocumentMall membership, for $1000 per year, access to Ricoh’s web-based DocumentMall Software
As-A-Service (SaaS) solution
- Major Account/Strategic Account (MASA) membership is $2500/year for specific accounts only
- Education (EDU) membership is free to accredited higher education institutions
- Basic membership is free
- Premier is S400/year
- Premier Plus is $4500/year
- A company in Shingle Springs, CA was created to test hard drives removed from digital copiers for confidential data. Digital Copier Security Inc., run by John Juntunen, claims that when companies trade-in or dispose of their digital copiers, that they are leaving sensitive data behind for others to take advantage of. The company charges thousands of dollars to remove the hard drive, destroy it, and then provide certificate of its destruction to the end user.
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