Toshiba financial issues update
– Reuters News Services is reporting that Chinese regulators have begun an antitrust review of Toshiba’s proposed deal to sell its NAND memory chip division.
– The Boston Globe and others are reporting that Toshiba settled legal disputes with Western Digital, clearing the way for the embattled Japanese conglomerate’s multi-billion-dollar sale of its prized chip business.
o “Toshiba is counting on the sale to bring in about $14 billion in much-needed cash after its losses on nuclear power projects in the United States left its finances in tatters.”
o agreed to withdraw a cluster of lawsuits and arbitration claims over the deal that they had filed against each other
o Toshiba plans to cede a majority stake in the chip subsidiary to a group of investors led by the investment firm Bain Capital.
o Toshiba and Western Digital said that they would maintain their joint venture arrangement until at least 2029 and that Western Digital would have the option of investing in the capacity expansion in Japan, giving it access to additional flash memory supply.
– Reuters News Service is reporting that Argyle Street Management, a Hong Kong-based activist investor in Toshiba Corporation, has told Toshiba that the proposed sale of its $18 billion sale of its memory-chip unit to a Bain Capital-led group “is no longer necessary after its recent capital injection
o is asking some 30 investors who participated in Toshiba’s recent 600 billion yen ($5.3 billion) new share issue “to team up.”
Xerox CEO is asked to resign
– The Wall Street Journal is reporting that billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn has a 9.72% stake in Xerox, making him the second-largest shareholder of Xerox.
– In June of 2016, Icahn placed one of his employees on the board of Xerox, Jonathan Christodoro
– Last Friday, Jonathan resigned from the board due to disagreements
– Following his resignation, Icahn notified Xerox that he intended to nominate and seek to elect 4 to the board; Jonathan Christodoro, Keith Cozza, Jay Firestone and Randy Read
– Icahn stated that Xerox “is in reality a bleak situation that I fear could turn out like that of Eastman Kodak” (which declared bankruptcy)
– Icahn calls for the resignation of current CEO, Jeff Jacobson
o “Xerox desperately needs new leadership. Despite our efforts, the “old guard” directors still remarkably defend a CEO that is incapable of (1) introducing new products that do more than play catch-up to competitors and (2) acknowledging that cost-cutting alone, particularly in sales, marketing, R&D and customer service, is not a formula for changing the current alarming revenue trajectory of “mid-single digit” year-over-year percentage decreases. Perhaps their defense is not so remarkable given that Jacobson himself is part of the old guard, having served as an executive at Xerox since 2012.”
Xerox wins production print contracts
– Award from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee for its copy center
o Installed a new Color 1000i production color laser system
o Reasons given for choosing over competition:
§ Able to run 80lb. text weight gloss and 100lb. matte-coated sheets up to 12⅜x18⅛˝ sheet size at top engine speed
After getting demos on several production models, “it was surprising to discover that except for the Xerox 1000i, none of the devices could make good on the claim (to maintain top engine speed on thick stocks). The slowdowns and stoppages the others experienced didn’t occur on the Xerox 1000i, which also proved superior in eliminating paper curl.”
§ 2,400 x 2,400dpi
– Award from Commercial Foundations of Gloucester, England
o Installed a new Xerox Versant 180 production color laser system
o Reasons for choosing included:
§ 80ppm top speed
§ ability to take sheets up to 660mm long
§ ability to print up to 350gsm board
§ wide range of media types, including coated and uncoated papers, labels, business cards, glossy brochures and window decals
§ inline spectrophotometer
Xerox sued for alleged patent infringement
– sued by Midwest Athletics and Sports Alliance, claiming that Xerox infringed on 20 printer-and scanner related patents it holds
– is seeking relief, damages and a jury trial in state of Nebraska
Hon Hai not sure of who to lead Sharp?
– DigiTimes magazine is reporting that Sharp faces succession issues
– Tai Jeng-wu, president and CEO of Sharp, is facing a dilemma as to whether he should step down from his current post or continue to play the role that he has been playing at the Japan firm for the past 16 months.
– When he took the helm of Sharp, Tai said he would step down when the company’s shares returned to trading on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange
– Sharp’s shares resumed First Section trading last week due to improved earnings after being downgraded to the Second Section in August 2016 due to its prolonged business slump.
– Tai has offered a proposal for Sharp to think about the possibility of a co-CEO system to run the company, hoping that such an arrangement will enable him to delegate some of responsibility while looking for a possible successor.
Lexmark offers RFID solution
– Lexmark, owned by Ninestar of China, launched new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Laser Printing for Manufacturing
– solution that combines the electronic forms, color print and specialty media capabilities into an all-in-one label and RFID color laser multifunction printer (MFP)
– helps eliminate the risk of mismatches between RFID tags and labels
– Simultaneous printing and programming on large forms up to 1200 dpi
o Using a single print task
o documents up to legal-size
Lexmark’s parent has execs under arrest?
– Ninestar of China, owner of Lexmark, is refuting a report in TonerNews magazine suggesting that Ninestar has something to do with a California couple who have been charged with immigration visa fraud and that top Ninestar executives face arrest or have already been arrested for embezzling company funds
– There is, in fact, an ongoing complaint that the SEC brought against Edward Chen (a/k/a Jianqiao Chen, Jian Qiao Chen, and Jian Chen) and Jean Chen (a/k/a Jing Jiang and Jean Jiang) in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
o couple controlled several companies that raised more than $22.5 million from 45 investors in China for the development of an interior design center in Ontario, CA, and a residential condominium building in Los Angeles
o SEC alleged that the Chens “stole more than $12 million out of investor funds by issuing cashier’s checks to Jean Chen, transferring the money to affiliated entities, and purchasing residential real estate completely unrelated to the two EB-5 projects.”
o The SEC added, “The Chens allegedly misappropriated more than 91 percent of the money raised from investors in the interior design center project.” The SEC has obtained an emergency order freezing the Chens’ assets. However, neither the SEC press release nor the SEC’s complaint against the Chens mentions Ninestar or its affiliates.
– Ninestar representative expressed “shock” at the story and stated the TonerNews post is “fake news.”
o said there is “no executive named Jianqiao Chen (Edward Chen) or Jing Jiang (Jean Chen) in Ninestar,” adding, “We have no idea how TonerNews relate[s] the news to Ninestar.”
Iron Mountain makes large acquisition
– Iron Mountain announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the U.S. operations of IO Data Centers LLC, a leading colocation data center services provider based in Phoenix, Arizona
– paid $1.315 billion plus up to $60 million based on future performance
– With the transaction, Iron Mountain will acquire the land and buildings associated with four state-of-the-art data centers in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona; Edison, New Jersey; and Columbus, Ohio
– existing data center space in the four owned facilities totals 728,000 square feet, providing 62 megawatts (MW) of capacity with expansion potential of an additional 77 MW in Arizona and New Jersey.
HP dramatically reducing its R&D?
– Seeking Alpha newsletter is reporting that HP has dropped its investment in research & development to as little as 2% of its total revenue
– “R&D investment as a percentage of sales has been declining for years, a downward trend suggestive of a company falling into commoditization”
– “something that does not give us confidence in HP’s ability to drive future innovation”
– “HP spends the least on R&D as a percentage of revenue of any tech company”
– “Without adequate R&D spending, how will HP Inc develop 3D printing or change the way we use computers?”
– “The declining commitment to R&D investment should give investors pause”
– “Without adequate R&D funding, advances in technology are unlikely to come from HP Inc. Look elsewhere for the next great product.”
HP has another security issue?
– IT publications are reporting that some HP laptop computers are infected with a keylogger, as discovered by researcher, Michael Myng
– “Keyloggers” are programs that record every keystroke a user enters into a computer
– cybercriminals can use keyloggers to collect username, passwords, and other information
HP exec discusses printer/MFP security
– interview in ITProPortal magazine with Paul McKiernan of HP
– “When you look at all the effort we have put in to securing devices and servers that are stored in secure bunkers…we have put in all this effort, but we have got an equivalent sitting in the reception of most organizations!”
– “61% of businesses have experienced at least one printer-related attack”
– “43% are ignoring the devices when developing their endpoint security practices”
– “It is a threat hiding in plain sight…you visibly see jaws drop…I talk to CISOs (chief information security officers), and some say, ‘I have never thought of this’”
– “the issues often stems from the facts that printers, which are the original thing in the Internet of Things, do not fall under the remit of the security teams at major organizations”
– “You have this problem in organizations where those people responsible for security are not responsible for printers…and those responsible for printers have not responsibility for security”
– “The message we are relaying to people in the security business…to say have you considered these extra 5,000 devices in your organization which sit on the divide between the physical world and the digital world”
– “there is still a need for much more research to prevent a Mirai-esque attack using printers to hit businesses”
– “printers could absolutely be used for a botnet-style attack”
HP posts last quarter’s earnings
– Total revenue climbed 11.3% to $13.9 billion
– earnings up 34.2% to $890 million
– operating margin grew to 6.4%
– Printer/MFP division revenue up 7% to $4.9 billion
o supplies revenue up 10.5% to reach $3.1 billion
o consumables sales made up 64% of HP Printing’s total revenue
o revenue from commercial and consumer units contributed 23% and 13%, respectively, to the unit’s topline.
– CEO, Dion. Weisler mentioned that HP is open to making one or more strategic acquisitions in 2018
o “We feel good about the investment choices ahead of us,” Mr. Weisler said. “We believe we can create significant shareholder value.”
Kyocera launches new A3 b/w MFP series
– Kyocera (aka Kyoto Ceramic Company) now shipping the ECOSYS M4125idn series
– Top speed of 25ppm
– Base MSRP of $4723
– (a 32ppm version, the M4132idn, has base MSRP of $5879)
– 4.3” color LCD touch screen control panel
– 1200x1200dpi top resolution
– 21 second warmup time
– Max duty cycle of 80K/month
– Maximum paper capacity of 1600 sheet
o Comes standard with 500 sheet paper drawer and 100 sheet stack bypass
o Handles up to 163gsm in drawers and 256gsm in bypass
o Auto duplex up to 163gsm
– Optional fax board
– Document feeder holds up to 50 originals
o Scans at up to 600x600dpi in b/w or color
o Scan speed up to 50opm
o Does NOT scan both sides of original at same time
– Built-in print controller
o 1.2GHz ARM Cortex A-9 dual core processor
o PHL, PS and XPS print drivers standard
o 1GB RAM standard, can upgrade to 3GB
o Optional 32GB or 128GB hard drive
§
Optional data security kit
o USB, 10/100/1000BaseT ports standard
o Support for Apple AirPrint, Google Cloud Print, NFC, WiFi
o Scan to SMB, email, FTP, USB, TWAIN
Dealer acquisitions continue
– Virginia Business Systems, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, announced it has acquired Imagistix (fka Pifer Office Supply) of Winchester, Virginia
o This is VBS’s twelfth acquisition.
– Oval Partners of San Francisco, CA, which owns FlexPrint of Mesa, AZ, announced it has made a significant investment in Caltronics, headquartered in Sacramento, CA
o “We are very excited to join forces with Oval Partners and FlexPrint in our next phase of growth”; stated Dan Reilly, CEO of Caltronics.
o “the addition of Caltronics to our portfolio of partner companies speak volumes to how unique and dynamic this initiative is”; sated Frank Gaspair, CEO of FlexPrint.
Output management solution wins award
– Buyers Labs Inc. awards “Pick of the Year 2018” award to Levi, Ray & Shoup’s Cirrato One solution (a “follow you” type of print management solution)
– Levi, Ray & Shoup Software of Springfield, Illinois, advertised Cirrato One as a print server consolidation and centralized print management solution
– Features a platform that replaces traditional print servers that typically reside at various locations across the enterprise with a central server that handles management of print output, drivers, and queues
o enables Direct IP printing from the client PC to the target printer/MFP, which minimizes WAN traffic.
– “Designed as an enterprise-grade solution, Cirrato One features redundancy and fail-over capabilities we have not seen in other print-infrastructure management platforms,” noted Jamie Bsales, Director of Software Analysis at Keypoint Intelligence
o “And the platform’s security features, such as support for secure pull printing and unique identifiers for each user, job, and output device, help ensure that information in an organization’s print stream is always safe.”
– (competes with Nuance Output Manager, among others)
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