Xerox to close Global locations across U.S.
– CRN magazine reported that in an effort to cut costs, Xerox is closing almost half of the 186 locations in the U.S. under the “Xerox Business Solutions” division (formerly known as Global)
– Sales teams are being forced to work remotely
– Support staff to be laid off
Xerox loses court battle to Fujifilm
– According to Law360 news service, a federal judge in Manhattan, New York rejected a request from Xerox
– Xerox had requested that the court dismiss Fujifilm’s lawsuit against Xerox seeking more than $1 billion from Xerox after the company backed out of an agreement to be acquired by Fujifilm
– (Some industry analysts believe that if Xerox is forced to come up with this $1 billion penalty, it will force the company to be acquired by Fujifilm)
Xerox wins production print contract
– Award from Minuteman Press of Silverton, South Africa
– Installed a Xerox Versant 180 production color laser system
– Reasons given for choosing include:
o ability to handle a wider range of printing stocks, including gloss substrates
o top speed of 80ppm
o 2400x2400dpi
o Auto duplex 350gsm
Xerox settles lawsuit with Texas
– State of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that the State of Texas had settled its $2 billion Medicaid fraud lawsuit against Xerox/Conduent, its former Medicaid administrator from 2004 to 2012, for $235 million
– settlement over Xerox/Conduent’s alleged inadequate orthodontic prior authorization process was touted as a record recovery for Medicaid fraud in Texas
Epson to offer voice activation on printers
– added voice-activated printing compatibility with Google Assistant and Siri
– includes color inkjet printers, EcoTank, WorkForce and Expression series
– now compatible with three popular voice assistant platforms, including Amazon Alexa
– Epson printer users can now ask Google to print a variety of items, including graph paper and ruled paper, colorful designed paper for stationary or creative projects, scrapbooking embellishments, calendars, and seasonal designs
HP to start $5.1 billion civil trial
– Has filed lawsuit against former Autonomy founder Mike Lynch who was charged with making false statements to coerce HP into paying $11 billion to acquire his software firm (original offer was for $6 billion)
– HP is trying to get Christopher Egan, Autonomy’s former head of U.S. sales, to give evidence in the nine-month trial
o Egan, who admitted to wrongdoing in exchange for a deferred prosecution agreement, last month blindsided HP by refusing to testify in London.
o Egan signed a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors in 2017 and agreed to testify at the accounting fraud case against former Autonomy chief financial officer Sushovan Hussain, who was convicted and is awaiting sentencing.
– HP is seeking permission from a U.S. court to require Egan to give video evidence, while Lynch’s legal team wants the application denied.
Hyland Software wins ECM contract
– Award from Portage Mutual Insurance, a mutual insurance provider in Canada
– selected Hyland’s OnBase enterprise information platform
– integrated with Guidewire ClaimCenter claims management
Document management survey
– published by Access, provider of CartaHR software
– 12% of organizations are storing all of their employee files electronically
– most organizations still store some employee documents on paper
– 1% of respondents reported that their software would allow them to easily find and organize documents for an audit
– 83% stated that the HR team would manage the audit
– 9% said they have digital files and someone would have to pull documents from each electronic employee file
– 44% indicated that they were only somewhat confident that they have a h2 retention policy in place
– 32% said that they were very confident
– 20% were not confident and noted that this would be a priority for next year
Dealer acquisitions
– Kelley Imaging Systems announced the acquisition Midland Office Equipment based in Billings, MT.
o This strategic acquisition gives Kelley Imaging statewide coverage of Montana
– Sharp announced it has acquired Saratoga Technologies of
o covers in Eastern Tennessee and Southwest Virginia
o was a Savin and HP dealer
o will sell Sharp equipment and offer managed IT services
o locations in Knoxville, Johnson City and Chattanooga, Tennessee, and in Abingdon, VA.
Kodak replaces its CEO
– Announced that Jeffery Clarke has stepped down from CEO position he held during last 5 years
– Chairman Jim Continenza as named new CEO
o Currently also serves as chairman of Merrill Corp. and Sorenson Communications
Canon holds annual press event
– annual Media & Analyst day in Boca FL, February 11 – 12
– headlined event by Sam Yoshida, EVP & GM of Business Information Communications Group (BICG) and Vice Chairman of Canon Solutions America
– Total revenue in FY18 was down from FY17
o 46% of total revenue came from office technology division
o Net income of $2.3 billion
– Will invest 8% of total revenue in FY19 into research & development (includes camera technology)
– In the U.S. total revenue down 3% in the distributor/retail channel (Staples, Office Deport, etc.)(Canon does not certify its U.S. numbers)
o Fed gov business up 3%
o Dealer unit sales in U.S. up 2%
o U.S. unit sales in 2018 (all channels)
§ Enterprise (office MFPs and printers) up 9%
A3 Color up 15%
A3 B/W up 5%
A4 up 3%
§ Cut-sheet Toner Production up 29%
23% increase in B/W
31% increase in color
– Production print division
o 92ea continuous feed production color inkjet systems installed in FY18
o 40ea cutsheet production color inkjet systems installed
o 83 billion pages recorded
o commercial print (inkjet) was up 12%
o display graphic systems were up 21%
o large format (CAD) was up 12%
o 14% growth for CSA Enterprise Color
o Production Print Solutions up 30%
o display graphics up 129%
o production color cutsheet up 32%
o production b/w cutsheet up 16%
Ricoh reports last quarter’s earnings
– net sales down 3.1% to $4.4 billion
– gross profit down 6.1% to $1.7 billion
– gross profit margin down to 38.1%
– Office Printing (printers/MFPs) division sales down 6.7% to $2.4 billion
o down 5.6% in the Americas
– Office Services (managed IT, FM) division sales up 11.4% to $1.04 billion
– Commercial Printing division sales up 2.9% to $431 billion
– Industrial Printing division sales up 28% to $51 million
IDG reports on fax in healthcare
– 50% of all medical communication in the U.S. is done via fax
o 44% is faxed paper via fax machine or fax board in MFP
o 56% is electronic fax from computer
– 66% of healthcare employees want paper-based faxing to be phased out
o 4% want all faxing to be eliminated
– 76% are happy with their current paperless faxing integrated with their EMRs
Ricoh moves to new location
– takes 56,000 sq. ft. at upgraded Parsippany, NJ office building
– relocating back office operations from West Caldwell, NJ
– include a revamped lobby that is large enough to host town hall-style meetings
– also serves as a social gathering area with lounge-style seating and a fireplace.
– full-service café, outdoor courtyard seating and an espresso bar serving hot drinks and grab-and-go food options
– fitness center with new training equipment, a private yoga studio and new locker facilities.
DocStar solution to add eSignatures
– Epicor Software Corporation announced that its latest release of DocStar ECM offers comprehensive support for eSignatures
– "We’re thrilled to partner with a leader in the enterprise software space like Epicor to deliver more efficient ways for companies to do business," said Mark Register, SVP business development and channels at DocuSign. "This new integration will allow our joint customers to come to agreement faster using the tools they are familiar with and working in every day."
Kyocera reports last quarter’s earnings
– Net sales from all divisions dup 1.7% to $3.7 billion
– Profit from operations down 155.8% to loss of $195 million)
– Operating profit margin down to 5.3%
– Document Solutions Group (printers/MFPs) division sales up 0.2% to $841 million
o Operating profit up 8.4% to $89 million
Dealer wins recognition for managed IT
– CRN magazine (aka Computer Reseller News) has named Loffler Companies, headquartered in Minnesota, to its 2019 Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500 list in the elite 150 category
– Recognizes the top North American solution providers with innovative approaches to managed services
Hardcopy market continues shrinkage
– IDC published report on last quarter’s worldwide hardcopy (includes MFPs and all types of printers) market
– Stated that entire market declined 4.8% to 26.7 million units (includes office and consumer products)
– Color laser MFP units up, except for units slower than 21ppm
– HP had growth of 3.6% in units
o Canon = down 8%
o Epson = down 15.2%
o Brother = down 2.6%
o Kyocera = up 0.9%
