Xerox taken over by Fujifilm of Japan

– Xerox will be “absorbed by Fujifilm”, according to the Wall Street Journal Tuesday.
o At the end of the transaction, the shareholders of Xerox would hold slightly less than half of the new entity, called Fuji Xerox
o Fujifilm will pay $6.1 billion for the shares
o the market capitalization of Xerox was $8.3 billion o takeover should be completed around July or August of 2018
o the new Fuji Xerox will be led by current Xerox CEO, Jeff Jacobsen
– Xerox has been under pressure from two of its biggest shareholders, Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason, who together own more than 15% of the company.
o Carl Icahn, Xerox’s top shareholder, sold off $40 million in company stock (1.16 million shares) following the announcement.
o Current Xerox shareholders will own less than half of Fuji Xerox, while Fujifilm will own 51%
– Fujifilm reduced its expectations for operating income by nearly 30% in an earnings forecast and said it would cut 10,000 jobs around the world .
o Goal is $1.7 billion in total annual cost savings by 2022, with approximately $1.2 billion of the total cost savings expected to be achieved by 2020.
– Xerox reported its last quarter’s earnings:
o Total revenue down 2% to $2.7 billion
o Net loss of $190 million

o Equipment revenue up 1.5% to $682 million
§ A4 revenue up 4.1% to $100 million
o Color A4 units up 32%
o B/w A4 units up 34%
§ A3 revenue down 0.2% to $410 million
o Color A3 units up 14%
o B/w A3 units up 1%
§ PPS revenue up 3.9% to $161 million
o Color units down 5%
o b/w units down 10%
o MDS revenue up 0.8% to $913 million
o Service/supply revenue down 3.1%
– “The agreement marks the end of independence for a U.S. company whose roots trace back to the start of the 20th century”; reported Bloomberg – “I really hope the Fuji Xerox deal will fix the problems I have seen with Xerox over the years,” says Jim Lyons, manager of Print & Mail Services at the State University of New York at New Paltz, who details some “lousy customer service” experiences of the past.
o “Xerox machines were great workhorses, but we always had issues with billing and back-end support. Our Accounts Payable department went crazy trying to straighten everything out each month. Let’s hope Fuji is the solution that brings customer service back to Xerox.”
– An Australian in-plant manager was quoted as stating:
o “The experience from the in-plant perspective is not so rosy. Fuji Xerox are ultra-aggressive with their ‘managed services’ division and their pursuit of in-plant business.”

– Abbas Badani, director of Penn State University’s in-plant. “Xerox has been in trouble since it took part in the boondoggle that was the merger with ACS. It is fortunate that the name still carries enough goodwill that they were able to find a willing suitor in Fuji.”
o “What is of profound historical importance is that another industry that was once a product of American innovation has no American presence left in terms of corporate ownership,” he laments.
– “I just feel sorry for the people that will bear the brunt of the $1.7 billion in savings,” remarks Ken Johnson, director of Printing Services at Ball State University. “You know that most of the cost savings will come at the expense of good hard-working people, who will not get golden parachutes.”
– Steve Priesman, manager of Printing & Publications Services at Omaha Public Schools, finds the Fuji Xerox deal “very disturbing” due to past experiences with Fuji.
o “We have had major problems with Fuji insofar as their sales and support organization for the graphic arts market,” he reveals.

Xerox updates VAR dealer program

– unveiled a handful of significant updates to its global partner program in hopes of enticing more IT providers to sell its print solutions and services to existing SMB clients
– include the creation of an entry-level member tier meant to streamline the process by which prospective channel partners can join the program
o carries no minimum revenue requirements and grants partners immediate access to Xerox marketing toolkits and financial kickbacks
o Amy Belcher, vice president of global channel enablement at Xerox, said partners need only sign a “terms and conditions” agreement to become entry-level members
o can maintain that status indefinitely
– in the process of building a “print 101” online training program for solution providers looking to learn the space
– an improved sales rebate structure designed to get checks into partners’ hands more quickly
o simplified partner tier structure that now relies upon a single yearly revenue number, as opposed to the previous model, which used multiple revenue calculations.
o partners who do hit their revenue targets for a new tier – be it Silver, Gold or Platinum – have access to the attached benefits as soon as the following quarter
o revenue minimum to reach Silver status was raised
o requirement to reach the Platinum tier was reduced by half
– Xerox sees solution providers as a critical route to untapped segments of the SMB print market
o Pete Peterson, Xerox senior vice president of global channel strategy, stated; “We do not have the capability and the resources ever to be able to sell into the true SMB space. They are our partner of choice to reach into the SMB space.”
o When asked about conflict with existing BTA Xerox dealers, Peterson stated; “There’s always going to be a potential conflict, but we think we’re addressing and focused on two different markets here,” Peterson said.

Xerox wins healthcare deal

– Award from Southeast Orthopedic Specialists of Florida, for 7 locations
– Through Xerox dealer, Advanced Business Solutions
– Included 30ea VersaLink B605 MFPs and 5ea AltaLink B8055 MFPs

Hon Hai Precision’s Sharp division finances

– Sharp’s operating profit for the nine months ended in December 31, 2017 up 270% to 70 billion yen ($640 million)
– Primarily due to earnings improvement in liquid-crystal display (LCD) business.
– sales during last quarter up 20% 1.8 trillion yen
o Smart Business Solutions (which includes printers and MFPs) up 4.7%

Hon Hai Precision to buy Toshiba PC div?

– Hon Hai Precision (aka Foxconn) of Taiwan, is reportedly considering having its Sharp division make a bid for the PC division of Toshiba
– Sharp and Toshiba have begun talks at the working level
– Some see the price tag for Toshiba’s PC operations, which include Dynabook laptops, reaching around 10 billion yen ($91.9 million).
– Toshiba expects PC division losses to deepen in fiscal 2017
– Toshiba entered into talks last year on a sale to Taiwan’s Asustek Computer, but a deal failed to materialize.
– Toshiba’s PC segment posted a 500 million yen operating loss for fiscal 2016 on sales of 191.8 billion yen
– Sales fell to about 1.8 million in fiscal 2016 from a peak of more than 17 million in fiscal 2011.

Ricoh has division file for bankruptcy

– Ricoh’s division in the country of India has filed for bankruptcy.
– “The company has come to a position where it is unable to meet its liabilities and this course of action has been decided in the best interest of the company, its customers, employees and minority shareholders and all other stakeholders,” the company said in a BSE filing.
– In July 2016, indicating a possible accounting fraud, Ricoh India admitted that its accounts appear to be have been “falsified” as it estimated to have incurred a loss of ₹1,123 crore for the fiscal ended March 2016.

Ricoh launched new devices

– unveiled a pair of new 30ppm color and black-and-white printers
– use LED instead of laser technology
– new models named SP C352DN and the SP C360DNw – The SP C352DN has MSRP of $1245 and features:
o 4.3″ color LCD touch panel
o Built-in print controller
§ WiFi connectivity
§ of areas for their specific business needs. At a cost-effective MSR
– The SP C360DNw has MSRP of $465 and features:
o four-line LCD display
o 1,200 x 1,200 dpi

Photizo Group sued by former employees

– several Photizo Group employees are suing Photizo Inc.; the newly formed Virtulytix, Inc.; Photizo founder Ed Crowley; Meritus Ventures: and L. Ray Moncrief for unpaid wages.
– 6 former employees are suing for a combined amount of approximately $301,190 in the Fayette Circuit Court in Kentucky.

Ricoh wins production print contract

– Award from Publishers’ Graphics (PG) of Earth City, Missouri
– installed a Pro VC60000 production color inkjet continuous feed system
– will be used to produce books on demand
– reasons given for choosing the VC60000 include:
o variable drop technology
o offset-replaceable print quality
o 1,200 x 1,200 dpi
o support PDF, PDFVT, JDF/JMF, PostScript and AFP/IPDS file formats
o certified by Pantone and Fogra
– also installed three RICOH Pro C7110 production color laser systems and one Pro 8220 production b/w laser system

Ricoh sponsors Xplor

– Xplor International, the worldwide electronic document systems association announced that Ricoh renewed their Elite Sponsorship as a silver sponsor for 2018.
– supports year round educational programming to Xplor members and the industry as a whole
– provides funding for the Xplor Member Scholarship program launched in 2011, providing university scholarships for Xplor members and their immediate families.
– Promotes digital workflows, multichannel campaigns, and next generation innovations

Ricoh posts earnings for last 6 months

– Net sales up 3.2% to 1,516.2 billion yen
– Operating profit up 68.1% to 48 billion yen
– Operating margin up 1.3 points to 3.2%
– Research & development investment down 3.3 billion yen
– Office division (MFPs, printers)
o MFP sales down 10%
o Printer sales up 3%
o MFP units down 3%
§ A3 MFPs down 6%
§ A4 MFPs up 5%
o Commercial PPS sales down 6%
– Total debt of 912.2 billion yen
– Published “Ricoh Resurgent Initiatives” for 2018
o Prioritize profits over scale expansion
§ Price control
§ Reduce unprofitable deals and MIF
o Reduce fixed costs and make variable
o Cut development, production and sales costs
o Enhance asset efficiency
o Consolidate production network and redefine site roles
o Cut development costs by pairing down models created in-house
o Optimize dealer and direct sales structure for small and medium-sized businesses in North America
o Trim headquarters and back office operations
o Leave no stones unturned in screening businesses
o Streamline management structure (“despite progress in consolidating sales and streamlining structure, sales activities stagnated more than expected during transition”

Ricoh to offer new solution

– Announced new partnership with Umango Software
– Maker of document captures solutions
– (competes with Nuance AutoStore, Phoenix Dispatcher, Prism ScanPath, Psigen, etc.)

Nuance launches new solution

– released Nuance Edge for Copitrak, an external terminal that pairs with Nuance’s law-firm document capture software and document security
– adaptive to most copier/MFPs
– pull-scanning mode, which scans directly from the terminal interface
– enhanced imaging-processing capabilities under which users can control resolution, DPI, contrast, brightness, auto color correction, and duplex mode
– comes installed with the latest Microsoft Windows 10 operating system
– 12.1” LCD touch panel and unified interface
– “The release of the Nuance Edge reaffirms our status as the leader in supplying legal document capture and automated workflow solutions,” commented Chris Strammiello, vice president of Global Alliances & Strategic Marketing at Nuance Communications.

Canon reports last quarter earnings

– Net sales up 16.1% to 1,12 trillion yen ($9.9 billion)
– Gross profit up 18.8% to 546.6 billion yen
– Operating profit down 1.4% to 79 billion yen
– Net income up 21.8% to 54.6 billion yen
– Office division (MFP, printers, PPS, etc.) net sales up 1.5% to 493.2 billion yen ($4.4 billion)(these numbers still include sales of product to HP for LaserJet)
o Operating profit down 43.9% to 27.3 billion yen ($241.5 million)
o MFP sales up 5.4% to 188 billion yen ($1,7 billion)
§ B/w units down 10%
§ Color units up 10%
o Laser printer sales down 3% to 178 billion yen
o PPS sales up 2.6% to 127 billion yen ($1.1 billion)
– Announced it will reduce research & development spend to 7.8% of net sales

Canon to carry Plockmatic products

– will be launching Plockmatic’s BLM 50 and BLM 35 Production Booklet Makers
– production print customers can produce stapled or square folded booklets of up to 200 and 140 pages at rated engine speeds
– handle coated, uncoated and textured stocks up to 350 gsm.
– initially be compatible with the Canon imagePress C10000VP, C8000VP, C850 and C750 production color laser systems
– Plockmatic BLM50 is a 200 page 50 sheet booklet maker
– Plockmatic BLM35 is a 140 page 35 sheet booklet maker
– Plockmatic Binder converts a conventional saddle stitched booklet into a flat square spine booklet
o engineered to support an average volume of up to 30,000 booklets or manuals per month

EFI reports FY2017 earnings

– For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Company reported revenue of $993.3 million, up 0.1% year-over-year
– GAAP net loss was $14.4 million or $(0.31) per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $44.9 million or $0.94 per diluted share
– Non-GAAP net income was $100.7 million or $2.14 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income of $116.2 million or $2.43 per diluted share
– Cash flow from operating activities was $51.3 million, down 58% compared to $121.0 million during the same period in 2016.
– Fiery print server revenue down 4% to $266 million
– Inkjet wide format printer revenue up 1% to $570.7 million

Kyocera reports earnings

– Kyocera (aka Kyoto Ceramic Company) announced that during past 3 quarters of its fiscal year it attained sales of 1145 billion yen ($10.133 billion), up 12.9%
o Document solutions division (includes MFPs and printers) up 17.2% to 266,902 million yen
o Profit from operations increased 62.4%, to $964 million
o income before income taxes increased 46.8% to $1.282 billion
o Research & development investment of 3.7% (as a percent of revenue)
– During last quarter, net profit decreased 16.8% to 28,880 million yen ($261.7 million)

Kyocera to conduct healthcare seminar

– Held on February 6th at its R&D center in Sunnyvale, CA
– Will have live sushi chef on site, as well as pizza and beer
– Speakers include:
o Makoto Yoshida, GM of Kyocera Medical R&D Center gives opening
o Neda Amidi, Director of PNP Health to discuss Plug and Play Health
o Dr. Davang Thakor of Anioplex to discuss Man-Machine Interfaces
o Dr. Miqin Zhang, Professor at University of Washington to discuss ceramic-based theranostic nanoparticles
o Kenji Kodomari, GM of KYOCERA Corporation to discuss investment strategy
o Tadashi Tsukiyama of Solution Business Sales, Kyocera Corporation
o Overview of Kyocera by Rupinder Bhathal, Head of Corporate Development, Kyocera
o The Sleep Shelter in Your Ear with Takahiro Watanabe, PM of Medical R&D Center, Kyocera
o Wearable Medical Devices with Asao Hirano, Information Systems R&D Division, Kyocera
o Closing Remarks with Masahiro Inagaki, Executive Officer of Corporate R+D, Kyocera Japan

More copier dealers acquired

– AOS Digital (Konica Minolta, Canon, Kyocera) of Doylestown, PA, announced it has merged with Copy Products (Kyocera) of Upper Darby, PA.
– Visual Edge Technology announced it has acquired:
o JANCO (Xerox, Kyocera & HP) of Wolcott, CT
o FastForward Digital Solutions, managed print/IT services dealer in Miami, FL

Okidata reports earnings

– Net sales for the first nine months of the current financial year totaled 300 billion yen ($2.73 billion), down from 304.9 billion yen
– operating income turned into of loss of 2.8 billion yen ($25.5 million), down from a profit of 400 million yen ($3.6 million) in the previous year
– ordinary income turned into loss, of 1.7 billion yen ($15.5 million)
– net sales of printers/MFPs dropped slightly to 80.2 billion yen ($730.9) down from 82 billion yen
o Operating income rose to 2 billion yen ($18.2 million)
o plans a reformation of the structure of its MFP/printer business, which it aims to have completed by the culmination of this fiscal year.

Square 9 offers new ECM solution

– Square 9 Softworks, Inc., announced today the release of GlobalCapture 2.1
– two new key enhancements in web forms management and business process automation.
o GlobalForms 10 features a dynamic web forms creation and management platform
§ unified approach towards capture automation, with structured or unstructured data extraction
§ allows web forms management to be added to an existing instance of GlobalCapture or as a standalone solution that does not require the GlobalSearch ECM platform.
o GlobalCapture 2.1 suite is a new business process automation platform
§ guiding documents down a path for review and approval, prior to their eventual release into a document repository
§ ability to build workflow rules into the capture process
§ full process automation as part of the document transformation operation.
§ can then be paired with third party content storage solutions like Microsoft SharePoint or OneDrive

HP offers voice activated printing

– Announced support for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Microsoft Cortana
– Using voice commands, users can ask selected HP home printers to print:
o Shopping list
o Weekly sports calendar
o Sheet of graph paper
o Sudoku puzzle
o Black color page

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