Toshiba financial issues update

– Toshiba is having trouble selling off its NAND memory chip manufacturing division
– The company planned to complete the deal by March 31 
– Under the sale agreement, next deadline for closing is May 1 
– Has missed an initial deadline to close the 2 trillion yen ($19 billion) sale of the division by the end of March
– has not yet been approved by Chinese regulators as they weigh the impact on the world’s biggest market for semiconductors
– had originally put the division on the auction block in 2017 as it sought to repair a balance sheet hammered by billions of dollars worth of losses from a push into nuclear energy
– If the Bain deal falls apart, Toshiba has at least three options
o re-negotiate the terms, potentially at a higher price
o take the memory chip business public
o retain the division.
– The issuance of new shares in December brought in new shareholders that could take a more active role in the electronics maker’s affairs
o A total of about 60 funds, including David Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital, Daniel Loeb’s Third Point and Effissimo Capital Management Pte, hold about a third of Toshiba
o A general shareholders meeting scheduled for late June could give them an opportunity to agitate for a better deal.
– Announced that it is looking to hire a Chief Digital Officer to “spearhead the organization’s company-wide transformation strategy”

 

Toshiba wins MPS contract from school

– Award from King/Drew Magnet High School of Medicine & Science in Los Angeles, CA
– Included mobile printing solution to print from school-issued Chromebooks

 

Kyocera to build new plant

– Kyocera (aka Kyoto Ceramic Company Japan) Announced it will construct a new manufacturing plant in the Kagoshima Sendai complex in Japan
– The plant will make ceramic microelectronic packages used to house electronic devices and CMOS image sensors
– (Kyoto Ceramic Company was founded in 1959 in Japan to make ceramic insulators for TV picture tubes)

 

Ricoh enters new service partnership

– Ricoh, looking for new ways to use its U.S. branch service technicians, announced new partnership with Fetch Robotics of San Jose, CA
– Will provide service to companies using FetchCare to get service on Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs) when needed
– Fetch provides automation for material handling and data collection

Canon announces new partnership

– Announced that it has solutions partnership with Anoushka Inc.(dba Gefira Business Solutions) of San Jose’, CA
– (“gefyra” is the Greek word for “bridge)
– Anoushka is an Oracle Gold Partner, offering Human Capital Management and Financial Management solutions for clients that use Oracle’s PeopleSoft platform
– Will allow Canon to offer its Accounts Payable Automation solutions to Anoushka’s customers

 

Canon hits with lawsuit

– On 3/20/18, a former Canon employee (“Jane Doe”) filed a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit against the company in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District Court of New York
– “Canon effectively ended Doe’s long career in the printing industry when Canon’s Human Resources department performed a slow, inadequate and retaliatory investigation into Plaintiff’s complaints of sexual harassment by her supervisor”; stated law firm, Berke-Weiss Law.
– The suit seeks back pay, front pay, compensatory damages and punitive damages, as well as reimbursement for attorney’s fees and court costs

 

Ricoh may be starting massive layoff

– A letter sent from Ricoh USA to Mayor Robert Reichert of Macon, Georgia says that 74 Macon employees are anticipated to be "separated from employment" by May 28, 2018.
o Ricoh USA plans to reorganize certain parts of its business
o According to the letter, all of the affected employees have already been notified about the layoffs. 
– Ricoh said that it expects to report a record consolidated net loss of 170 billion yen for fiscal 2017 ending in March, 2018, due to an office equipment business slump in North America.
o At a press conference in Tokyo, Ricoh President Yoshinori Yamashita said that he “seriously takes” the estimated record net loss, while stressing that achieving a quick recovery in the firm’s earnings is his duty.
o Yamashita added that the company is not considering cutting executive pay at the moment.
o “As offices in North America are going paperless faster than we expected, prices of office equipment fell markedly,” he said, explaining the reason for the business slump in the region.
o “This impairment is regrettably negatively impacting our business performance for this year but this is necessary in order to execute our growth strategy, change our business structure and move forward for the future”
o Ricoh has slashed over 5,000 jobs, mainly in Europe and the United States, since April last year

 
 

HPE changes its mind on moving HQ

– Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced it is moving 1,000 employees into a 220,000 square foot space in San Jose’, CA
– Originally announced it was moving from Palo Alto, where company started, to a space in Santa Clara
– No reason given for change of mind

Ricoh wins production print contracts

– Award from the U.S. Department of Treasury for regional financial centers in Kansas City, MO and Philadelphia, PA
o Included 8 InfoPrint 4100 b/w production systems, equipped with Lasermax paper roll feed options, with cutter/trimmer stackers.
o Total contract value of $3,402,126.
– Award from Western Carolina University’s CRD in Cullowhee, NC
o Installed two Ricoh Pro C7100sx production color systems and a Pro 8200 production b/w system
o The C7100sx systems included the optional 5th toner (clear and white toners)

 

Lexmark wins large MPS contract

– Award from Anheuser-Busch North America
– Before award, company had 600 leased copiers and 2,400 owned devices
– Fleet in past was 307 different models from 19 different manufacturers, including 111 inkjet printers, 140 fax machines and 478 wide format printers
– The combined total print volume from American and Canadian operations was 61.5 million pages per year
– Prior to contract award, Lexmark was allowed to run a DCA, and conduct onsite assessment surveys at select locations
– New contract includes 1,300 MFPs across 138 locations, or a 43% reduction in fleet size
– Includes Lexmark Print Release, a “follow you” type solution which reduced output by 20%
– Solution includes automatic toner replenishment
– All equipment was installed in 60 days

 

HPI’s COO passes away

– HP Inc. announced that its Chief Operating Officer, Jon Flaxman, has died at age 61.
– Originally joined the company in 1981

 

Kodak wins PPS contract

– Award from the University of Virginia’s CRD in Charlottesville, VA
– Installed a NexPress SX2700 production color LED toner system

 

Presstek sells out to another firm

– Presstek, maker of direct imaging offset plates, CTP solutions and offset presses announced it has sold out to Mark Andy Inc.
– Presstek’s team of  more than 60 technicians will be integrated into Mark Andy
– The waterless plates division of Presstek was spun off into new company, named Verico Technology

 

Xerox wins production print contract

– Award from i3logix, a commercial printer in Denver, Colorado
– Installed a Rialto 900 production color inkjet web press, and a Versant 3100 production color laser press
– Will be used to produce letter packs, postcards, brochures and newsletters

 

 

Xerox hits with patent infringement lawsuit

– Document Dynamics LLC of Connecticut has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Xerox 
– Company claims that Xerox purchased single use licenses of its network printer assessment software in March of 2000
– Claims that Xerox stopped paying for licenses in 2003, and then came out with its own version of the software based on the software, without paying Document Dynamics for its technology

 

Xerox attempts to have lawsuit dismissed

– The Supreme Court for the State of New York consolidated all the lawsuits filed against Xerox into one, named “In Re Xerox Corporation Consolidated Shareholder Litigation”
– This class action suit attempts to derail Xerox from being sold to Fujifilm for $6.1 billion
– Major Xerox stockholders, Darwin Deason and Carl Icahn, filed suit to attempt to force Xerox to sell out to another firm, as they point to Xerox’s current value (market capitalization) of $7.34 billion
– Xerox and Fujifilm filed motions to dismiss the claims against it on 3/16/18
– Witness depositions started on 3/23/18 with hearings scheduled to start on 4/26/18

 

Okidata wins PPS contract

– Award from Alphagraphics of Cherry Hill, New Jersey
– Installed an OKI C942 DP+ production color LED toner system
– Includes 5th toner option
– Will be used to produce personalized envelopes

 

Sharp’s parent makes acquisition

– Hon Hai Precision (aka Foxconn of Taiwan), which owns Sharp, announced it has acquired Belkin of Los Angeles, CA for $866 million
– Belkin makes Linksys networking products, iPhone accessories, and WeMo smart home products

 

Copier dealer acquires managed IT firm

– Automated Office Systems, a Ricoh dealer in Central San Joaquin Valley of California, announced it has acquired Complete Computing.
– Former owners were John and Cindy Silva
– AOS is owned by Tom and Jeff McGowan

 

Visual Edge makes another acquisition

– Visual Edge Technology has acquired A-COPI Imaging Systems, a provider of Toshiba, HP, KIP, and Lexmark office products in northern New England, with three locations across Maine in Bangor, Gardiner, and Portland.  
– In addition, A-COPI offers a full array of managed print and managed IT services.

 

Managed print services revenue growth

– Research published by Market Insight Reports
– Claims global Managed Print Services Market was valued at $28.63 billion in 2016
– Projected to reach $61 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 8.64% from 2017 to 2025.

 

IDC reports on security solution growth

– Worldwide spending on security-related hardware, software, and services is forecasted to reach $91.4 billion in 2018
– Increasing by 10.2% over 2017
– Compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% per year until 2021 to reach $120.7 billion
– Customers investing in security to avoid cyberattacks and adhere to regulatory compliance
– $18 billion will be spent on managed security services
– In U.S., $38 billion will be spent in 2018 (which is more than what will be spent on MFPs)

 

Amazon.com claims printer sales growth

– Office supplies category sales up 30% to $3 billion in 2018
– 74% increase in inkjet cartridge sales
– 51% increase in toner cartridge sales
– 56% increase in paper sales
– 26% increase in inkjet printer/MFP sales
– 15% increase in laser printer/MFP sales
– Total printer/MFP sales of $300 million

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