HP to keep Samsung workers in Korea?
– HP announced that once it completes acquisition of printer/MFP division of Samsung, it does not initially plan on any job cuts in South Korea
– Samsung has 2,000 researchers and engineers in the country
– These employees are now allowed to transfer to other divisions of Samsung
– Apparently all have job security for 3-5 years
HP wins managed print contract
– Award from the University of South Dakota
– Includes 839 devices and the Pharos Uniprint cost recovery software solution
– used 6,500,000 sheets, of paper during the 2015-16 academic school year, costing $46,000
– Approximately $195,000 was spent on 2,800 cartridges on toner
– students are given a $28, or 400 sheets, printing quota
– 91% of students print 400 sheets or less during the academic year with Pharos
HP gives more details on growth plans
– HP Inc. gave security analysts an update
– CEO Dion Weisler sees commercial and consumer worlds blending
– Believes trends are behavior of millennials, greater use of mobile devices, demand for more security, the everything as a service model, and the emergence of blended reality
– HP’s managed print services (MPS) business has seen 13 consecutive quarters of revenue growth
– Graphics business has grown constant currency revenue for 12 consecutive quarters o Digitally printed applications such as packaging, signage, marketing collateral, and decoration are growing three times faster than conventional
– Successes on the consumer side include 25 percent year-over-year growth in mobile pages (2 billion total), and a 20 percent increase in HP’s Instant Ink program with a 90 percent retention rate
– claims that 50 billion pages have been printed using PageWide technology in the last four quarters
– In technical department production, PageWide adoption has grown by 30 percent in the past year.
– sees its inkjet/laser unit shipment mix shift toward a higher lifetime gross margin per unit band
– expects a 5 percent growth in the top bands through 2017.
– Contractual supplies sales are expected to grow from 15 percent of total to more than 35 percent by the end of 2021
– Office printer growth will be driven by better security, innovations such as JetIntelligence and PageWide, and enhanced MPS offerings.
– Strategy for the graphics market includes targeting packaging and signage applications, partnering with brands to improve time to market and offer more personalization, and reinventing printer service provider operations with cloud connectivity, automation, and better collaboration capabilities
– expects to be on track to cut $1 billion in costs
– Part of that cost cutting appears to be coming from planned job cuts of 3,000 to 4,000 globally between 2017 and 2019
Samsung exploding smartphone update
– Article in Wall Street Journal reports that reason for the exploding battery issue may related to fact that unlike Apple, Samsung does not use a 3rd party lab to test its batteries
– Samsung instead cut costs by doing its own testing, and stated it found no issues
– Company claims it is “working around the clock” to identify the problem
– The U.S. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has banned all Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones. Violators could suffer fines and criminal prosecution.
Foxconn plan for Sharp OLED panels
– Company stated it plans on having Sharp make OLED (organic light emitting diode) panels for smartphones makers in China by 2019
– Will invest $1.92 billion in new venture
– Large customer may be Apple
Foxconn predict profit for Sharp after cuts
– Sharp expects to report its first group operating profit in three years, totaling around $384 million for fiscal 2016 according to The Nikkei newspaper of Japan
– Sharp continues working to reduce expenses under Hon Hai’s direction.
– The company logged a 161.9 billion yen operating loss last fiscal year
– expects to suffer a third straight annual net loss, reaching 40 billion yen, albeit smaller than last fiscal year’s 255.9 billion yen.
– Turnaround is due to job cuts rather than growth
– offered early retirement to more than 3,000 employees in summer 2015
– sales of liquid crystal display panels and other products continue to languish.
– Full-year sales are expected to fall 20% to around 2 trillion yen
– President Tai Jeng-wu, a Hon Hai transplant, has told Sharp employees in an internal memo that the company aims to post an operating profit this fiscal year.
– "Sharp stopped the bleeding by cutting fixed costs, but that’s only a stopgap measure," said analyst Hideki Yasuda at Ace Research Institute. "It’s still unclear how the company can attain its topline growth. It needs to find a new growth driver."
Sharp gets more bad press
– Sharp reached settlement with two overseas firms for fire accident according to Bejing Headline News
– decided to pay $205,748 in total to Great Lakes Reinsurance SE and State Farm Fire & Casualty Company as settlement
– will end lawsuit that claimed Sharp’s air-conditioner products caused fire accident
Foxconn to close Sharp factory in Japan
– According to the Nikkei Asian Review newspaper, Foxconn is preparing to close the Sharp factory in Mihara, Hiroshima Prefecture in western Japan, as early as 2017
– It also plans to downsize its liquid crystal display television factory in Tochigi Prefecture, north of Tokyo.
– Sharp produces light-emitting diode products and semiconductor lasers, among other things, at the Mihara factory.
– Some 300 employees at the factory are said to have been already informed of the closure plan.
Toshiba to invest in AI for autos
– Announced it is partnering with Denso Corp. to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology called Deep Neural Network Intellectual Property (DNN-IP) to be used in image recognition systems to help with automated driving technologies
– Will track obstacles, road markings, road space and potential dangerous situations
Toshiba names new south region leader
– Matt Barnes promoted to South Region president of the direct channel o Previously was in charge of Florida branches
o Before Toshiba, had management positions at IKON Office Solutions
o Includes branches in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Puerto Rico
o Reports to Bob Greenhalgh, who is in charge of U.S. direct operations
Toshiba gets more bad press
– The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission of Japan has queried three former Toshiba presidents over falsified earnings reports according to Japanese newspapers
– SESC questioned Atsutoshi Nishida, Norio Sasaki and Hisao Tanaka
– apparently weighing the possibility of seeking criminal prosecution on suspicion of falsifying financial reports
– in violation of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
– Last December, the Financial Services Agency imposed a record $71 million fine on Toshiba for falsifying financial reports, following a recommendation by the SESC
Ricoh has booth at education vertical event
– Announced will be exhibiting at the annual EDUCAUSE conference
– Held 10/25-28/2016 at the Anaheim Convention Center of California
– 40,000 attendees
– Will have demos of MFPs, whiteboards, projectors, Blackboard, Canvas, Papercut
Gartner info on the state of PC industry
– Worldwide PC shipments fell 5.7% in last quarter to 68.9 million
– This is 8th consecutive quarter of decline
– “The PC is not a high priority device for majority of consumers, so they do not feel the need to upgrade their PC’s as often as they used to do”
Apple’s CEO gives interview
– Reported in Nikkei Asian Review newspaper
– Will open a R&D center in Tokyo, Japan
– Will develop artificial intelligence technology
– “Deep engineering” and be “very different” than R&D center it plans to build in China
– AI is “horizontal in nature, running across all products in ways that most people do not even think about”
– “I think there is an incredible future (for Apple) ahead”
Employees steal toner cartridges
– Shelley College, located in Shelley, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England reported that $122,000 worth of toner cartridges were stolen by two employees
– Plan was to sell cartridges online
Xerox survey on employee retention
– 53% of employer respondents in Xerox’s HR Services’ 2017 Compensation Planning Survey report that their highest priority in the coming year is to retain top talent.
– while pay raises are expected to remain at three percent, consistent since 2012, nearly all survey participants who plan to offer lump sum payments in 2017 will do so to reward employees who have reached or are above their pay range maximums
– 37% of employers surveyed intend to determine market pay adjustments for high potential employees.
– “Attracting and retaining top talent is increasingly critical, and organizations need to continue – or start – finding creative ways to do so,” said John Gentry, president, Xerox HR Services. “These findings reflect a sign of optimism among employers as they shift gears from controlling costs to engagement.”
– 54% of employers surveyed anticipate normal hiring in 2017.
Xerox wins production print contract
– Award from Revprint Tokai, a print and design shop located in Cape Town, South Africa
– Installed a new Xerox Versant 80 production color toner system
– Reasons given by owners Raymond and Jane Fuller for choosing:
– "best of both worlds" when it comes to printing
– "Having started in the industry as litho specialists, we have so much experience and offer consistent services," he says. "We are also the best-equipped shop in our immediate area, with everything from basic high-volume black-and-white copiers right through to large format printers for poster-size fine-art prints, and everything in-between."
– "Color consistency, in particular, is something we expect and get from all our Xerox machines. The Versant 80 takes consistency to the next level,"
– "This is essential for business stationery and flyers that must reproduce our customers’ corporate colors instantly and accurately every time."
– "We believe the Versant will strengthen both of our business mantras: turnaround speed and quality," he adds. "In the past it was more acceptable to schedule business print projects over several days, but in today’s world customers walk through the door and want product in hand when they walk out an hour or so later. They also want the same quality they’ve always had, regardless of how long it took to produce before. With the Versant 80 we can now deliver, and do so at a lower cost as well."
Xerox to launch new production systems
– Will be manufactured by Fuji of Tokyo, Japan
– will launched the Versant 3100 Press and Versant 180 Press
– both are production color toner systems
– Versant 3100 Press will offer 100 ppm print speed o 2,400 dpi resolution
o support for 52 to 350gsm
o Automatic image control with the in-line sensor
– Versant 180 Press has 80 ppm print speed o 2,400 dpi resolution
o support for 52 to 350gsm
o Simple Image Quality Adjustment (SIQA)
– new optional D6 document finisher has body that is 85% the size of the previous model o provides stacking, stapling, hole-punching, cover-page insertion, paper-folding, saddle-stitch stapling
o optional Trimmer D1, and SquareFold Trimmer D1 § top and bottom trimming function
§ face-trimming function
§ makes a crease on pages prior to folding them into a booklet, preventing toner from cracking and maintaining media finish
§ Up to five creases can be added to a page, and they can be either a mountain- or valley-folded
Xerox CEO wanted to be VP pick
– According to WikiLeaks Ursula Burns, Xerox’s outgoing CEO, was interested in being the vice presidential candidate for Hillary Clinton
– Name was on email that came from Clinton’s campaign manager John Podesta
Coleman Parkes survey on paper usage
– Survey of small to medium sized businesses (SMBs)
– 80% want to cut paper out of the way they invoice, report financials, managed legal and human resource forms
– 46% confirmed that a significant amount of time is wasted on paper processes
– 60% believe this has impact on bottom line
– 20% are aware of paper free solutions in the market
– 47% go to office equipment dealer for solution
– 25% turn to IT VAR
– 37% go to manufacturer/branch
– 28% are well advanced in plans to digitize
– 41% have just started with their plans
– 12% are 1-3 years away from starting
– 42% believe they have an existing MPS contract
– 40% plan to get MPS contract within next year
– 60% spend more than $1000 per month on printing
– 23% believe that mobile devices will be integrated into their workflows by end of 2017
– 56% believe they include printers and MFPs into their security strategies
Italian software firm offers MPS solution
– AB Asset Management of Italy launched its MPS MONITOR printer monitoring platform
– announced that its data collection agent can now run on Apple Macintosh
– claims to have solution running in 50,000 installations
– offers panel integration with Samsung and Kyocera MFPs
– MFPs are connected 24 hours a day to a Cloud system
– Allows dealers to remotely manage and track page volumes produced to consumables supply and replacement needs
– “We expect to release more Embedded versions for other MFP/printer brands shortly, so that we can provide this option to the majority of our customers and Dealers.”
Screen of Israel wins production contract
– Award from Wolverine Solutions Group of Detroit, MI
– Installed a Truepress Jet 520HD production aqueous color inkjet system
– Will be used to produce direct mail pieces
– Customers include; automotive, healthcare, insurance, gaming, financial services and governmental units such as cities and schools
– Reasons given by CEO Robert Tokar for choosing: o “We’ve always pursued ambitious goals that position us as a creative partner for our customers. In an era of digital communications, hard copy is surprisingly popular and still the chief mode of communicating in the marketplace,”
o “Until now, the challenge has been the relatively slow pace of the hard copy option. For example, 500, 000-piece projects that may take two weeks with a traditional printer can now be done in a few days, or even hours, with the Truepress. It’s this combination of quality and speed to market that will give our customers meaningful options in digital versus hard copy when determining the best method to communicate with their audience.”
o 300 feet per minute print speed
o 1200x1200dpi
o Handle up to 12pt stock
o 20″ web width edge to edge bleed
o “The direct mail marketplace is thriving,” notes Tokar. “While digital options are growing, print is still exceedingly relevant and, depending on the message, often the most effective way to reach or influence a target market and elicit a response.”
Canon wins production print contract
– Award from Gasch Printing
– Installed an Océ ColorStream 3900Z production color aqueous inkjet system
Canon offers statistics for U.S. customers
– Each year office workers print an average of 758 pages on Canon MFPs o Total of 75 billion pages annually
– In 2015, Canon customers printed over 150 billion pages worldwide
– In 2015, Canon customers printed 69 billion pages using Oce’ production inkjet systems
– Over 250 million square feet per year is printed on its flatbed inkjet printers
Obama administration and toner cartridges
– Reuters News Service reported that the Obama administration filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the court to overturn a ruling that allows Lexmark to sue aftermarket resellers of its “single use” toner cartridges on the basis of alleged patent infringement
– In 2/2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that Impression Products of West Virginia had infringed upon Lexmark’s patents by marketing refurbished Lexmark cartridges that originally were sold with “single use”
Lexmark has data security issue
– Digital Defense, Inc. (DDI), a provider of security management as a Service (VMaaS) issued a press release stating that it’s discovered two security vulnerabilities in the Lexmark Markvision Enterprise application
– Markvision is used for managing Lexmark and third-party fleets of printers and copier/MFPs
– DDI says the vulnerabilities can be used to obtain encrypted administrative credentials, and decrypt “with an obtainable static key,” allowing remote administrative access to the MarkVision Enterprise interface.
– If exploited, the firm says a cyber-criminal would have SYSTEM privileges to run remote code, retrieve arbitrary files, and perform denial of service, “potentially disrupting an organization’s operations.”
Future of office printing
– InfoTrends publishes results of latest survey of office workers in the U.S.
– 60% of people’s print volume are required o 40% of print is optional
– Young workers (18-29 years old) do not show the dramatic decline in printing that is often associated with this age group
– Traditional office environments (i.e., headquarters, branch offices) are still generating highest print volumes
– 66% have taken steps to remove, simplify, or automate document-related business processes
– On average survey respondents spend 36 minutes retrieving digital documents versus 20 minutes for paper documents
– Almost 40% of respondents say less than one-quarter of their business content remains on paper
GPO loses one of its larger members
– Texas Purchasing Coalition (TPC) announced it is leaving Vizient
– Vizient is new name of healthcare group purchasing (GPO) formed by combination of VHA, Novation, ProVista and MedAssets
– TPC, HQ in Plano, TX, is a network of 20 acute care hospitals across Arkansas, Missouri and Texas that originally joined MedAssets
– TPC total contract exceeds $1 billion annually
– Instead has joined ROi, which is a small regional GPO formed by Sisters of Mercy Healthcare IDN, which is headquartered in St. Louis, MO
– While Sisters of Mercy is a Xerox customer, apparently the ROi GPO does not have currently an office equipment category
Mega copier dealer opens new location
– DEX Imaging announced it has signed on for 20,100 square feet at Whitehall in south Charlotte, North Carolina
– Has taken space at Whitehall Technology Center II, a 95,000-square-foot flex building at 2915 Whitehall Park Drive
– DEX is headquartered in Tampa, FL
Click charges in public sector
– Based on research from Gap Intelligence
– Shows average click charge for government related sales
– Color = $0.0555
– B/w = $0.0086
3D printer contract award
– Alabama State University in Montgomery, AL has been awarded a $271,000 grant by the National Science Foundation to purchase a state-of-the-art 3-D printer.
– The printer will be used by students in ASU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (C-STEM) and will enable researchers to custom design and build tissue replacements.
– “This unique bioplotter will be a focal point of research and undergraduate and graduate teaching at ASU, including K-12 outreach programs," said Dr. Derrick Dean, lead principle investigator. "At least three graduate and undergraduate courses in biomedical engineering and biological sciences will use the printer.”
Direct sales and working remotely
– Reaction within the $40 billion giant have ranged from mere shrugs to absolute dismay as workers adjusted to the idea that they can no longer work from home. Some bemoaned the death of "summer hours" where workers used to leave early on Fridays and finish work at home or the cabin. Other employees resented the end to a flexible situation they had come to depend on.
– The company reported third-quarter results Friday in which quarterly sales rose 2 percent, but net income slid 2 percent to $1.25 billion. The stock is trading near $109, down from its $120 price in July.
– Yahoo, Best Buy and Hewlett-Packard called all their remote workers back into the office in 2013.
IDC reports on hardcopy industry
– Many hardware vendors report falling revenue this year
– MFP/printer industry has experienced its 9th consecutive quarter of declining unit shipments in Q2 of FY2016
– Many manufacturers have indicated that markets for hardcopy equipment and consumables will remain soft into 2017
– Most of shipment contraction is at the low end of market
– Estimate the sales of hardware and consumables will be over $75 billion in 2016
– Nearly twice as many new models have been released in 2016 compared to 2015
– Number of color devices shipped continues to grow at a faster rate than b/w units
– Revenue from color supplies is also growing
Square 9 CEO offers growth strategy
– Steve Young, CEO of Square 9 Softworks, spoke at recent Encompass 2016 event in Clearwater, Florida
– Square 9 is provider of document management, enterprise content management and forms solutions
– “We are living in the age of digital wealth”
– “Information is the basis for wealth and power”
– “Information drives success for the 5 wealthiest companies, led by Apple”
– “Workflow and BPM (business process management) are the driving forces behind most new projects”
– Projecting a 22% growth in software licensing for 2016
– 39% growth in professional services revenue
– Data capture was a $3.2 billion market in 2015 and is expected to reach $4 billion by 2019
– Square 9 products “scale from $2300 to $250,000”
Graph Expo provides plans and data
– Large production print trade show in U.S.
– At recent Graph Expo show in Orlando, FO, attendance was just over 13,000
– In contrast, the Label Expo drew 17,400
– SGIA show (signage graphics) drew 23,000
– 2017 will have “Print Show” in Chicago, IL on 9/10-14
– 2018 will have Graph Expo show in Chicago on 9/30-10/3
– 2019 will have Graph Expo show in Orlando on 9/22-25
State of Healthcare market
– According to research from Definitive Healthcare Inc.
– Top 5 issues: o ObamaCare
o Consolidations
o Population Health Management
o Value Based Purchasing
o Emphasis on Quality
– Top 6 challenges: o Expense reduction
o Product standardization
o Tight capital budgets
o Empty beds
o Demographic trends
o Population health
o Consolidations causing shift in purchasing decisions
– Activity so far in 2016 o 101 new hospitals
o 321 ambulatory surgery centers opened
o 630 facility expansions
o 59 hospitals closed
o 171 new accountable care organizations (ACOs)
o 140 mergers and acquisitions
o 1,270 hospital executives moved
Study of digital media usage
– Conducted by ComScore Inc.
– Mobile web usage up 3% in past year
– Mobile app usage up 111% in past year
– Desktop media usage up 62% in past year
– Mobile now represents 60% of total digital time spent
– Top app used is Facebook, followed by YourTube and Google Maps
Forbes study on Internet data
– Internet traffic will pass 1 zettabyte (1 trillion gigabytes) in 2016
– For typical Fortune 1000 company, just 10% in data accessibility will result in more than $65 million in additional net income
– Less than 0.5% of all data is analyzed and used
Coach Belichick dumps Microsoft Surface
– Microsoft paid the National Football League (NFL) $400 million to get the Surface tablet PC in front of the league’s huge TV audience as the “Official Tablet of the NFL”
– On conference call with press last week, Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots stated: o “I’m done with the tablets. They are too undependable for me”
o “There is no consistency to it”
o Plans to return to printed paper
