Xerox chaos continues – CEO is out again

– The company “now sits ignominiously on the selling block for the sole purpose of fetching the highest bid”, according to one analyst
– “The ending to the Xerox roller coaster is not far off, and it will begin with the phrase ‘you can’t make this stuff up.’”
– Activist investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason would consider a bid for Xerox of at least $40 per share ($12 billion) or a split with Fujifilm that will leave the company independent, to resolve an ongoing proxy fight, they said in a letter
– Shares of Xerox were down at $28 in trading.
– Icahn & Deason posted a $150 million bond to preserve Xerox injunctions
o “This morning we furthered our commitment to holding Xerox, its current board of directors and Fuji accountable for their egregious actions by posting a $150,000,000 bond to preserve the two preliminary injunctions issued by the New York State Supreme Court in the litigation brought by Darwin Deason against them.”
o “Based on the ongoing Fujifilm accounting scandal that appears to grow in size and scope every quarter, combining Xerox with Fuji Xerox could possible lead to bankruptcy”

o injunction bars Xerox from holding a shareholder vote on the sale to Fuji
o Xerox lost its bid for a quick appeal of a decision to block its deal
– On 5/13/2018, Xerox Corp. announced it is terminating a proposed $6.1 billion takeover by Fujifilm
o has entered into a new settlement with its activist investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason
o confirmed in a statement that

Chief Executive Officer Jeff Jacobson will step down again

as part of the settlement
o also out are several other board members
o John Visentin is expected to take over as new CEO while Keith Cozza, the CEO of Icahn Enterprises, would take over as Xerox’s chairman.
o Fujifilm failed to provide audited financials for the joint venture
o “the Xerox board believes it is in the best interests of the company and all of its shareholders to terminate the proposed transaction and enter a new settlement agreement with Icahn and Deason”
o Icahn stated; “We are extremely pleased that Xerox finally terminated the ill-advised scheme to cede control of the company to Fujifilm”
§ “With that behind us and new shareholder-focused leadership in place, today marks a new beginning for Xerox.”

Nuance posts earnings for last quarter

– Healthcare customer sales up 8%
– Total net new bookings down 8% to $376.6 million

Recurring revenue as a percentage of total fell to 71% from 75%

 

Xerox ships new color PPS system

– Now shipping the new Iridesse production color laser system
– Made by Fujifilm of Japan
– Uses CMYK toners, plus up to 2 more specialty color toners
o gold, silver or clear
– According to Keypoint Intelligence-InfoTrends, digital print enhancement can result in a rapid return on investment as print service providers’ profit margins on such embellishments can be as high as 50 to 400%
– Allows users to incorporate metallics and varnishes
– can be used on their own or layered under or over CMYK
– “FreeFlow Core” offers pre-built workflows to automatically and selectively print gold and silver without editing the source documents
– Top speed of 120 pages per minute
– run stocks from 52 – 400 gsm
– uses “High Definition Emulsion Aggregate” or “HDA” toner (polymerized)
– optional EFI Fiery EX-P 6 Print Server
o customized workflows for metallic applications
– optional LCTs, bypass and post insertion
– maximum of 12,500 sheets.
– finishing options include:
o crease with 2 sided trim booklet maker

Sharp’s US CEO leaves

– Sharp, owned by Hon Hai Precision of Taiwan, announced that Doug Albregts is stepping down from his post as President and CEO of Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA)
– Will be replaced by Mike Marusic, who was COO
– Will report directly to Ted Kawamura, Chairman

Canon suffers large hack

– Canon-made security cameras connected to the internet have been hacked
– believed to have been illegally accessed so far, and in most cases a message that reads “I’m Hacked. bye2” has been left on their screens apparently by the hacker
– Canon is urging users to change their passwords on its website
– The security cameras connected to the internet allow remote monitoring using computers, smartphones and other devices

Canon wins production print contract

– Award from Gasch Printing of Maryland
– Installed Oce’ VarioPrint i300 production color sheetfed inkjet system
– Used to produce perfect bound books, case bound books, saddle stitched booklets, catalogs, and an array of other specialized digital book printing projects

Canon makes acquisition

– Announced it has acquired BriefCam of Newton, Mass and Israel
– Makers of Video Synopsis and Deep Learning video content analytics solutions
– Will be optional solution to bundle with Canon’s network video camera solutions (which came to Canon via its acquisition of AXIS Communications)
– Purchase price not announced

Ricoh launches new FM service

– announced RICOH Return Mail Services, an end-to-end solution for managing 6 billion pieces of undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail.
– offers businesses a handling process that reduces the burden of returned mail and provides accountability, control and transparency
– includes reporting and analytics
– collects return mail, either via specially designated PO box or on-site pickup and can update the address with up to date proprietary databases
– process classifies return mail by department or document type, enabling 48-hour turnarounds to the person responsible for the returned mail piece
– users have the choice to update their customer relationship management (CRM) database with the customer’s new address and re-send at the push of a button, or stop mail and contact the customer via other channels
– cloud-based portal allows users to access key data, such as total scans, records to be remediated, number of movers, reason for return, the quality of optical character recognition (OCR) data
– pricing not announced

Ricoh wins managed IT contract

– award from Servite College of Australia
– successful deployment of “a high-performance networking infrastructure at Perth-based Servite College”
– “the new infrastructure provides the school with a robust and scalable campus-wide network that supports both students and teachers”.
– migrated the school’s existing wireless network environment to the Cisco Aironet platform, incorporating the latest generation of Cisco access points and wireless LAN controllers
– consolidated and replacing the school’s core and edge switching infrastructure
– school’s data stores “are now protected using Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery. This means that, should a failure occur within the on-campus infrastructure, students and teachers can access their files from the cloud”

Ricoh launches new A4 devices

– now shipping the SP C360SFNw & SP C361SFNw
– color LED-based imaging
– top speed of 30-ppm
– document feeder features:
o a dedicated ID card input slot that scans both sides of an ID card at once
o scans both sides of original at same time
o top speed of 30opm or 60ipm for b/w, 20opm for color (40ipm)
– tablet-like Smart Operation Panel 7” LCD touchscreen control panel
o optional connectors for integrated solutions
– fax board standard
– max duty cycle of 7,500-pages-per-month
– 1,200 x 1,200 dpi
– optional 250- or 500-sheet paper tray.
– print controller standard and features:
o Android operating system
o optional Integrated Cloud Environment

 

o data security standard
o 1.2Ghz processor
o 2GB RAM
– also launched A4 color laser printer, the RICOH SP C261DNw, is rated at up to 21 ppm

Fire at toner recycling firm

– Close the Loop’s facility in Hebron, Kentucky suffered an explosion and subsequent fire
– company spokesman said a piece of metal sparked a flash fire inside the building
– safety systems worked in containing the fire
– Nobody was injured, but employees were force to evacuate.

Overheating MFP causes fire

– Business owners at the Sarit Centre, Westlands, in the country of Kenya are counting losses after a fire destroyed parts of the shopping mall on Friday.
– damages could run into millions
– Witnesses said the fire was started by a faulty MFP on the ground floor
– Attempts by attendants to put it out using a hand-held fire extinguisher failed.

Lexmark loses fed contract

– Reported by Joseph Petrillo in Federal Drive magazine
– Apparently the Department of Social Security Administration (SSA) abandoned printer procurement contract over supply chain risks
– The U.S. Department of Homeland Security blocked the SSA from acquiring Lexmark devices as the company is now owned by Ninestar of China
– “The reseller protested, but world diplomatic concerns prevailed”

Lexmark receives Common Criteria cert

– Announced that it achieved certification for Common Criteria Security Protection Profile, Hardcopy Devices v1.0 for its printers and MFPs

Lexmark exec interviewed

– Published in recent issue of ENX magazine is interview with Greg Chavers, CP of North American Channel Sales
– “BEI shared some of the trends regarding growth in the A4 market and how it is replacing A3 at an 8:1 ratio”
– “If we can help our dealers displace competitive A3 with our A4, then it is a win-win for them and for us”

Toshiba offers new solution

– Toshiba America Business Solutions announced it has entered into a partnership with XMedius Solutions, Inc., of Montreal, Canada
– XMedius will allow Toshiba to resell its fax over IP solution
– Connector for integration into LCD panel of Toshiba MFPs
– Will be advertised as an analog fax replacement for healthcare vertical offering compliance with HIPAA
– deployed on-premises or via the cloud

Toshiba TEC reports earnings for last fiscal

– total net sales up 15.7% to 513 billion yen
– net income up 9.8% to 17.5 billion yen
– Printer/MFP division up 10.8% to 200 billion yen worldwide
o Operating income up 3.9% to 7.3 billion yen

Okidata posts earnings for Q1 of 2018

– net sales down 3%
– ordinary income of 8.5 billion yen, versus loss of 2.4 billion yen a year ago
– printer/MFP division up 2% to 108.9 billion yen
o operating profit up 1.7% to 2.7 billion yen

Kodak posts earnings for Q1 of 2018

– net loss of $25 million
– total revenue flat at $357 million
– Print Systems division revenue up $3 million to $216 million
– Enterprise Inkjet division revenue of $31 million, down from $37 million

Brother posts earnings for last fiscal year

– Sales revenue up 11.2% to 7,130 million yen
– Net income up 5.9% to 500 million yen
– Operating profit up 16.1% to 687 million yen
– Printer/MFP division sales revenue up 7.4% to 4,112 million yen
o Operating profit up 4% to 474 million yen

Samsung products explode

– A family in Irving, Texas reported that their Samsung clothes washing machine exploded during use.  No one was injured.
– Since 2016, 2.8 million Samsung washers were recalled, after a flood of complaints began
– 9 injuries have been reported so far worldwide

PrinterLogic  signs up new distributor

– PrinterLogic of St. George, Utah, is provider of print driver management solutions
– Has now authorized Cranel Imaging to distribute its solutions to ECM, VARs, ISVs, and check automation dealers

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