Weekend MFP Industry Notes Newsletter
11-22-09
- Canon is making a bid to acquire all of Oce’. Details:
- Purchase price is roughly $1.1 billion, a 70% premium of Oce’s current stock price
- Cash consideration of offer is 730 million euros, while Oce’s total debt was 704 million euros
- Oce’ would remain a wholly owned division of Canon, running separate for now
- Oce’ management would stay in place for time being
- Oce’s three divisions will be Commercial Printing Systems, Wide Format Printing Systems
and Business Services
- Steering committee will be formed to lead integration of two companies over next 3 years
- Oce’s management board would be Rokus Van Iperen, Mr. Kerkhove, & Mr. Schaaf from Oce’, as well as Toshizo Tanaka (CFO), Mr. Elverding & Mr. Baan from Canon, as well as three
other Canon executives.
- Acquisition is supposed to conclude in spring of 2010
- According to Oce’ senior VP of corporate communications, Jon Hol, Oce’ began seeking a partner in August of 2008, and negotiations began with Canon in March, 2009
- Oce’ has 1,400 sales reps in the Americas
- Canon’s president and COO Tsuneji Uchida said;
“We are delighted to welcome Oce’, the ideal partner in every respect, into the Canon Group. Through the merger of Canon and Oce’, we believe that we will be able to realize clear benefits, no only in the area of R&D, but also in terms of product mix and marketing and are confident that this winning combination will contribute greatly to our goal of becoming the overall No. 1 presence in the printing industry.”
- If Oce’ were to back out, they would have to pay Canon a 7.9 million euro penalty
- More info on Canon’s large list of options for its new imageRUNNER ADVANCE color laser A3 MFPs:
- optional external 101 key keyboard for $110 requires $60 mount kit
- On large color LCD touch screen, there are two important keys:
- “Main Menu” key allows access to “Copy” key, which activates traditional copier
control panel buttons
- “Quick Menu” key provides access to common user tasks, like “Scan to my PC”
- Has separate image processing circuit board for scanning and information processing board for printing
- Uses Canon’s “pQ” pulverized toner infused with wa
- Comes standard with 80GB hard drive, but for $1300 can upgrade to terabyte hard drive
- $325 for data erase kit
- $550 for hard drive data encryption
- $1000 for removable hard drive option
- Memory card reader is $600, but requires kit for $100
- Wireless networking option for $650
- Direct PDF printing is $550 option
- PCL print driver is $800
- Optional PostScript print driver is $1200 and is now from Adobe instead of Zoran
- Secure print is $450 option
- Secure watermark is $1000
- Barcode printing is $800
- Universal Send is standard providing scan to email/FTP/desktop
- OCR kit is $550 for searchable PDFs
- Scan encryption is $450
- Universal Send Advance Features Set provides trace-and-smooth PDF and
Office Open XML support for $1100
- Universal Send Security Feature Set provides PDF encryption for $900
- Document Scan Lock kit for $2000 adds nearly invisible 3D barcode to copies
- Fax board is $800 with second line for $500, and add third and fourth lines for $1000 total
- Optional embedded EFI Fiery (called imagePASS B1) for $4950
- Optional external EFI Fiery (called ColorPASS GX300) for $20,000 requires $3150 interface
- Canon announced it won a 4 year managed print service contract from Resorts World, which runs hotel/resorts in Asia.
- Xerox announced it has sold one of its iGen3 90 production color systems to the in-house printshop at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota:
- Replaced a Xerox DocuColor 6060 and two Konica Minolta bizhub PRO 1050s
- Added a Xante’ Ilumina Digital Envelope Press (relabeled Okidata color LED printer)
- Purchased two Hewlett Packard Edgeline CM8050 color inkjet units to print letterhead
- Xerox provided a few details about the sales of the ColorQube color wax copier so far:
- Claims that over half the units sold replaced competitive color or b/w MFPs
- 25% of clicks are “useful color pages” (contain b/w and very small amount of color)
- 50% of clicks are “everyday color pages” (some color)
- 25% of clicks are “expressive color pages” (lots of color)
- “color pages are running higher than expected”
- Would not disclose how many units were sold so far
- Xerox announced it will now offer an embedded version of Equitrac usage tracking/control software for its EIP (extensible interface platform) equipped MFPs.
- Xerox is using a test report from Buyers Labs Inc. (BLI) to tout that its MFPs are faster and more productive as network printers than its competitors. However, what Xerox may not tell your customer is that the tests that were done used “banner sheets”, to separate the print jobs. Banner sheets are rarely used by end users, as they are considered wasteful. However, since many MFPs treat these banner pages as separate print jobs, they process slower than a Xerox MFP that treats banner pages as part of the print job. Summary: if customer does not use banner pages, they most likely will see no speed increase with a Xerox.
- Xerox announced it will resell CAStor content storage software from Caringo Inc. of Austin, Texas.
- Dell Computer reported its last quarter’s financials:
- Revenue down 15% to $12.9 billion
- Income down 54% to $337 million
- Large enterprise business revenue fell 23%
- SMB (small to medium size businesses) revenue fell 19%
- Consumer revenue down 10$
- Public sector revenue down 7%
- Perot Systems division revenue fell 12% to $629 million
- Desktop PC revenue fell 26%
- Desktop PC units fell 15%
- Mobile PC revenue fell 14%
- Server sales fell 6%, units down 7%
- Premier Purchasing Partners, which is a healthcare alliance of more than 2200 hospitals and 63,000 healthcare sites, announced that it will now offer Konica Minolta, Ricoh & Xerox products to its membership. The new contract, with these offerings, will be launched 1/1/2010.
- ABBYY Software Ltd., the OCR manufacturer headquartered in Russia, announced that Ingram Micro will distribute its products to resellers (VARs & dealers) in the U.S.
- Secunia, a network security alert firm, announced that denial of service network attacks could be carried out using a vulnerability found in some Hewlett Packard Color LaserJet models.
- Hewlett Packard announced that it won bid to supply Kmart locations with a version of its Edgeline color inkjet MFPs. The HP Photosmart ML1000 Minilab will allow Kmart stores to sell digital photo printing.
- Okidata announced that it will relabel Nuance document management software (PaperPort) as an option for its MFPs and call it the Okidata Desktop Capture Solution.
- IKON, a division of Ricoh, announced that it will resell software from KnowledgeLake, which offers viewing and retrieval technology for Microsoft Sharepoint.
- Ricoh’s factory direct branches will now offer the ability for their sales reps to:
- bundle in software and computer hardware into a lease
- bundle in professional services/network service, by a pass thru approach on a lease, so end users can pay for the service monthly
- In Japan, Ricoh launched the MP-C1800 A3 color laser MFP offering:
- 18ppm top speed
- Slower, less expensive version of existing MP-C2200
- Will replace the C1600/615C, which is a color inkjet copier, based on Ricoh GelSprint technology
- 4 tandem OPC drum design
- Optional fax board
- The U.S. Postal Service announced it will end 2009 with a $.38 billion loss.
- Sharp now shipping new low end b/w laser MFPs, the MX-M200D, MX-M260 & MX-M310 offering:
- MX-M200D offers 20ppm top speed
- Replaces AR-M207e
- Based on Pegasus A3 engine design, first launched in 2003
- Base MSRP of $4090
- Comes standard with 40 sheet document feeder
- Unlike other Sharp models, does not offer the textured plastic exterior
- Small, non-touch screen monochrome LCD panel
- Toner yield of 16K based on 5% coverage per page
- Developer and drum yield of 50K
- Comes standard with USB port and 48MB RAM
- Scans in color and b/w, but only TWAIN scan standard
- Optional network printing and scanning for $750 with PCL print driver
- PostScript print driver for $395
- Fax board for $660
- 10MB fax memory for $195
- Comes standard with two 250 sheet paper drawers and 100 sheet stack bypass
- Auto duplex standard
- Additional 250 sheet drawers are $450 each
- No finishing options
- MX-M260 and MX-M310 offer 26ppm and 31ppm respectively
- Based on Andromeda A3 engine launched in 2003
- Replace the AR-M257 & AR-M317
- Base MSRPs of $5650 and $6995 respectively
- Come standard with USB port and 32MB RAM
- Optional 1GB RAM
- No scanning standard
- Optional print controller for $1195
- PCL print driver
- PostScript print driver for $395
- 300MHz processor
- 64MB RAM (can upgrade to 320MB)
- $395 for data security kit
- No hard drive option for spooling or storage
- Network scanning is additional $1095
- Scan to email/FTP/desktop in b/w only
- Application Integration Module allows end users to enter data at control panel for their scans for $349
- Fax board is $1195
- No second fax line option
- Toner yield of 25K based on 5% coverage per page
- Developer and drum yields of 75K
- Come standard with two 250 sheet paper drawers and 100 sheet stack bypass
- 8.1” monochrome LCD touch screen
- 100 sheet document feeder with top scan speed of 39opm
- Can add two 500 sheet drawers for $795
- Optional internal stapling finisher for $1795
- Lexmark now shipping a floor standing A3 b/w laser MFPs, the X860 series offering:
- Are actually made by Fuji of Japan
- Similar versions are also sold with Xerox DocuCentre name on them
- X860de is 35ppm for base MSRP of $5989
- X862dte is 45ppm for base MSRP of $8249
- X864dhe is 55ppm for base MSRP of $10,799
- Will be sold by 150 Lexmark dealers in the U.S.
- Will also be sold with Ricoh will also sell under the InfoPrint name
- Large full color touch screen color LCD control panel
- Built-in print controller
- Embedded Solutions Framework (eSF) allows for embedded applications
- 800MHz processor
- 80GB hard drive and 256MB RAM
- Can upgrade to 1.28GB RAM
- 10/100/1000BaseT & USB ports
- PCL, PostScript & XPS print drivers
- Network scanning in b/w or color
- Fax board for $300 more
- Toner yield of 35K based on 5% coverage per page
- Comes standard with two 500 sheet paper drawers and 100 sheet stack bypass
- Auto duplex standard
- 75 sheet document feeder, with 55opm top scan speed for b/w and 27opm for color
- Add two more 500 sheet paper drawers for $899 or 2,000 LCT fo $1399
- Optional side mount 2000 LCT for $1249
- Stapling, hole-punching finisher for $1375
- Booklet making finisher for $2699
- Lexmark announced it will now offer Ringdale’s FollowMe for its printers and MFPs that allow for an embedded application. FollowMe enables end users to enter a PIN code, Windows login, ID card reader or biometric reader to authenticate and track usage.
- Due to downsizing, Lexmark is now trying to lease 135,000 square feet of office space in Lexington, Kentucky.
- Another imaging software company plans on entering the market in the U.S. to compete with Nuance eCopy and NSI’s AutoStore:
- New Dynamic Solutions (NDS) is based in Brugge, Belgium and is now selling products in Europe
- Will enter U.S. in early 2010
- In Europe is now selling its “ScanFlow Suite” to work with Ricoh (ScannerVision),
Konica Minolta (Document Navigator) and Toshiba (eBRIDGE Capture & Store)
- Founded in 1983
- CEO is Rene Brunt, who formerly worked for Ricoh
- Is a C++ based application
- Employs 25 people
- Software is embedded in the MFP, and uses color LCD touch screen control panel
- Approximately $223 for entry level “Express” version
- $748 for “Office” version
- Each additional MFP licensse is $148
- Optional modules for OCR/ICR, forms recognition, barcode recognition ($298 to $1497 each)
- Customizable control panel
- Has two dozen connectors to third party applications
- Quark of Denver, makers of QuarkXPress desktop publishing software, announced it is launching a web-to-print website, so it can better compete with Adobe InDesign. The website, QuarkPromote.com, allows end users to use a free design tool, and choose from hundreds of templates, and then order prints from a Sir Speedy, PIP or Signal Graphics printshop.
- Since Xerox bought ACS, HP bought EDS and Dell bought Perot Systems, many have speculated if Computer Sciences Corp. is also up for sale. According to company president, David Booth; “We like our position. We truly believe that there’s a role for companies like ours in the market”
- Samsung of Korea now shipping the CLX-8540ND color laser A4 MFP featuring:
- base MSRP of $8249
- 40ppm top speed
- 100K/month max monthly duty cycle
- Built-in print controller with 800MHz processor
- 1GB RAM
- 160GB hard drive
- 10/100/1000BaseT ports
- Maximum paper capacity of 2,720 sheets
- 600x600dpi (9600dpi with interpolation)
- Optional hanging stapling finisher
- Color touch screen LCD control panel
- 20K black toner yield
- Color toners yield 15K
- According to a Chinese newspaper, Toshiba is considering selling off its notebook computer manufacturing division to Asustek of China. Asustek makes computer motherboards, and its own PCs, selling in the U.S. through Best Buy and other retailers.
- According to survey conducted by the Photizo Group, half of the companies that are using a managed print services program, have done so by partnering directly with an equipment manufacturer.
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