As the leader in Boston copier sales, leasing and short term rentals, Copitex likes to provide our customers with the latest global copier industry news. Feel free to contact us with any questions.
Signs of recession?
Article recently written by Nouriel Roubini, Professor of Economics at New York University, and Chief Economist at Atlas Capital Team
- “The mother of all economic crises looms, and there will be little that policymakers can do about it.”
- “The world economy is lurching toward an unprecedented confluence of economic, financial, and debt crises, following the explosion of deficits, borrowing, and leverage in recent decades.”
- “In the private sector, the mountain of debt includes that of households (such as mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, student loans, personal loans), businesses and corporations (bank loans, bond debt, and private debt), and the financial sector (liabilities of bank and nonbank institutions).”
- “In the public sector, it includes central, provincial, and local government bonds and other formal liabilities, as well as implicit debts such as unfunded liabilities from pay-as-you-go pension schemes and health-care systems – all of which will continue to grow as societies age.”
- “Globally, total private- and public-sector debt as a share of GDP rose from 200% in 1999 to 350% in 2021.”
- “In the United States, it is 420%, which is higher than during the Great Depression and after World War II.”
- “Unlike in the 2008 financial crisis and the early months of COVID-19, simply bailing out private and public agents with loose macro policies would pour more gasoline on the inflationary fire.”
- “That means there will be a hard landing – a deep, protracted recession – on top of a severe financial crisis.”
Alignable Network Group survey results show that 40% of U.S. small business owners say they can not pay rent on time or in full for month of November
- 45% of gyms, 44% of retail stores and 44% of restaurants can not pay rent
- 60% cite inflation as reason for problems
- The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 263,000 net new jobs were added during month of November
- ADP argued that its data shows only 127,000 net new jobs were added in November
- ADP claims most new jobs were from hospitality, healthcare and government verticals
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Reported that the US labor force participation rate fell to 62.1%
- For those aged 25-54, only 82.4% are working
- John Williams, president of Federal Reserve Bank of New York “expects the unemployment rate to rise to around 5% by end of 2023”
Mike Sommers, CEO of American Petroleum Institute is warning that the failure to replenish the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve could trigger “another oil crisis in coming weeks”
- “This is for emergency purposes, not to lower gasoline prices”
- In October alone, President Biden released 180 million barrels
- Now down to 389 million barrels, the lowest since 1984
Update on riots at Foxconn plant in China
Foxconn, aka Hon Hai Precision of Taiwan, is parent of Sharp
CNN is reporting that Foxconn is now offering $1800 bonus to workers who will stay and live and work at the plant in Zhengzhou, China, that makes Apple iPhones
- Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple’s long term goal to move up to 45% of the iPhone manufacturing from China to India
- If Apple makes move, this would cause significant revenue loss to Foxconn, which shipped $32 billion worth of products in 2019 from Zhengzhou
- Will now pay wages up to 13,000 yuan per month ($1850/month)
- Many workers have chosen to leave, due to severe lockdown policies implemented as part of China’s Zero Covid policy
- Thousands of departing workers are stuck at a local train station, and unable to get home
- Videos that were posted on Chinese social media, showing workers being tear gassed, and beaten with metal poles, were taken down, but are not shown on CNN
- When Apple was asked for comment, spokesperson stated; “We are reviewing the situation and working closely with Foxconn to ensure their employees’ concerns are addressed”
- Every week of shutdown at plant is estimated to cost Apply up to $1 billion per week
- New York Times reported that the lockdowns in China have left residents in “dire straits, with trouble securing food and other necessities like medication”
Toshiba turmoil update
- Nikkei Asian News is reporting that the acquisition of Toshiba by JIP is delayed
- Apparently Japanese banks may not decide on loans to JIP until mid-December
- Current buyout proposal puts Toshiba’s value at 2.2 trillion yen
- Are assessing whether the loans will be redeemed on schedule
- NHK News is reporting that Toshiba has been told by the banks to sell some of its businesses and assets as a precondition for loans
Toshiba TEC settles lawsuit
- Reached a final settlement involving alleged patent infringement filed against company by Teraoka Seiko (aka DIGI)
- Will pay 6.9 billion yen to settle lawsuit involving point-of-sale self-checkout technology
Digital Workplace survey results
- Conducted by DWEA, included workspace professionals globally
- 93.1% say that their cloud strategy includes cloud print
- 97% want to manage printing/scanning in house
- 58% say hybrid working is here to stay
- 53.5% are challenged to manage printing and scanning at remote locations
- 31.1% are challenged to manage all the print drivers
- 22.1% have issues supporting end users’ printing/scanning needs
- 54.6% are spending less time on print support if they switched to cloud
Copier dealer merger/acquisition update
- Usherwood Office Technology, headquartered in Syracuse, New York, announced it has acquired Reprographics of New England, headquartered in Winooski, Vermont
- Usherwood covers northern New York, Vermont and New Hampshire
Canon wins production print contract
- Award from JPS Graphics Corp. of Dallas, Tx
- Installed a new Canon varioPRINT iX- series, a sheetfed production color inkjet system
- Will be used to produce books on demand
Canon wins security awards
- Homeland Security Solution awards from American Security Today
- uniFLOW Online won for “Best IT Access Control & Authentication”
- Office Cloud won for “Best Device Visibility and Control Solution”
- Powered by Netaphor SiteAudit
Canon names new executive
- Announced that Taz Nakamasu is new global CEO of Production Printing
- Previously had various positions during his 40 years with company
Brother launches new color laser A4 devices
Now shipping the Workhorse HL series with L9430CDN, L9470CDN, L9630CDN and L9670CDN
- Black toner cartridge with 9,000 page yield based on 5% coverage per page
- Color toner cartridges (C,M & Y) have 6,500 page yield each based on 5% coverage
- Now shipping the Workhorse HL series of EX470W and MFC-EX670W
- Black toner cartridge with 15,000 page yield based on 5% coverage per page
- Color toner cartridges with 12,000 page yield each based on 5% coverage per page
- Top speed of 42ppm
- 4 tandem OPC drum design
- 7” color LCD touchscreen
- 520 sheet paper tray and 100 sheet bypass
- Can expand to 2.700 sheets with options
- Document feeder holds up to 100 originals in MFC model
- Scans both sides of original at same time
- Top scan speed of 52opm or 104ipm
All models have earned Security Validation Testing seal from BLI
Lexmark hires new executive
- Announced that Melanie Hudson has been named new Senior VP and Chief Commercial Officer
- Reporting to CEO Allen Waugerman
- Lexmark is a division of Ninestar of China
Hewlett Packard Enterprise reports last quarter
- No relationship with HP Inc. (which provides printers and MFPs)
- For last quarter, total revenue was up 17% to $7.9 billion
- Annual recurring revenue (ARR) up 17% to $936 million
- Total as-a-service orders up 33%
- GAAP gross margin of 32.9%
- Intelligent Edge division revenue up 18% to $965 million
- High Performance Computing & AI revenue down 14% to $862 million
- Compute revenue up 16% to $3.7 billion with 14.7% operating profit
- Storage revenue up 4% to $1.3 billion with 15.9% operating profit
- Commercial print shipments increase
- U.S. Commerce Department reports that total September 2022 printing shipments were up from $7.17 billion to $7.20 YoY
- Past 6 months total of $61.96 billion up from $60.93 billion YoY
Riso launches two new inkjets
- Now offering the ComColor GL7430 and GL9730
- Both are high speed color inkjet systems
- Use technology from Olympus
- Top speeds of 140ppm and 165ppm respectively
- Reformulated inks have increased color gamut as compared to previous models
- Most notable when using yellow inks
- Oil based inks
- Both use an EFI Fiery print server
IDC reports on hardcopy peripheral shipments
- Research shows total shipments worldwide up 1.2% during last quarter
- Total of 21.2 million units sold (includes home and office use devices, inkjet, laser, etc.)
- Shipment value up 7.5% to $9.8 billion
- Canon and Brother shipments up 26.1% and 9.4% respectively
- HP shipments down 9.9% to 7.724 million
Ricoh to sell off divisions?
- Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun Newspaper is reporting that Ricoh’s CFO, Shun Kawaguchi apparently announced that company is set to evaluate Ricoh’s many businesses and determine with it will withdraw from or attempt to sell
- Company aims to increase its return on investment in 2023 fiscal year, with goal of 8% ROI
- “The time has come for us to make choices about our business”
- Shifting from a “multifunction machine to a digital service company”
CYBERSECURITY & HEALTHCARE VERTICAL NEWS
- Kno2 wins solution contract
- Award from Butte Premier Physical Therapy, headquartered in Chico, California
- Includes integration with customer’s existing Net Health Therapy for Clinics EHR
- Has automated workflows by allowing EHR to send and receive Direct Secure Messages
- Savings of $400 per month no longer spent on paper and toner for print/scan/fax devices
Previously spent average of 15 minutes per patient:
- Print plan of care document
- Writing a fax cover sheet
- Feed record into fax machine
- Stamp paper copy with date it was faxed
- Add that paper record to patient chart
- Capture physician signature
- Confirm return fax
- Scan signed record
- Reattach new documents to digital patient chart
- New process eliminated 11 steps in front office and saves more than 10 hours of labor per weekHealthcare workflows that could use cloud fax
Report from Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare
- Healthcare customers would save a minimum of 1.1 million labor hours every week by using electronic transactions instead of manual processes
- Each sent fax requires an average of 8 minutes to complete but can take as much as 30 minutes
- Wasted time costs industry more than $9 billion annually
- Identified 6 healthcare workflows that are primed to move from using fax boards in MFPs to a cloud faxing solution (such as Interax or RightFax from Konica Minolta)
- Pharmacy refills
- Labs
- Referrals
- Radiology/image reports
- Prior authorizations
- Release of information
(since not everyone in healthcare yet has adopted use of Direct Messaging, customers should consider replacing their MFPs with fax boards, with the Konica Minolta Healthcare MFP, as well as a cloud fax solution)
Healthcare vertical grows larger
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the healthcare vertical added 44,700 net new jobs in November
- Ambulatory care = 23,300 new jobs
- Acute care = 11,000 jobs
- Extended care = 10,400 jobs
Canon to create healthcare subsidiary
- Canon Healthcare USA will be headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio
- Will market its CT (computed tomography) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machines
- Also include ultrasound systems, X-ray, and in vitro diagnostic equipment
- Will invest $300 million in the subsidiary, with is starting with 20 employees
EHR vendor to buy another vendor
- NextGen Healthcare announced it is acquiring TSI Healthcare
- Purchase price for the privately held VAR in North Carolina is $68 million
Epic wins EHR contracts
- Award from Sonoma Valley Hospital of California
- Award from Mackinac Straits Health System of Michigan
- Award from MidMichigan Health
- Award from Evangelical Community Hospital of Lewisburg, PA
- Award from Fenway Health of Boston, Mass, replacing athenahealth
Oracle Cerner wins EHR contract
- Award from Adventist Health Mendocino Coast of Fort Bragg, CA
- Total cost of $12 million
HIPAA/cybersecurity breaches in the news
- 40 million patients have had their PHI exposed due to breaches so far this year, according to USA Today newspaper.
- WhatsApp is denying reports that a breach exposed the data of 6.1 million users
- Crown Point Community Schools of Indiana notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after cyber attack.
- Kenosha Unified School District of Wisconsin notified an unknown number of students that their info was exposed after cyber attack.
- Connexin Software, aka Office Practicum, notified 2.2 million patients of 120 pediatric physician practices that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.
- CCA Health California Insurance notified 14,631 patients that their PHI was exposed after data breach.
- St. Luke’s Health of Houston, TX is asking employees to return money they were apparently overpaid after a ransomware attack.
- Virginia Mason Franciscan Health of Seattle, WA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
- San Juan Regional Medical Center is offering patients affected by ransomware attack, up to $2500 each, to settle a negligence lawsuit.
- LastPass, which offers solutions to manage passwords, notified an unknown number of customers that their info may have been exposed after cyber attack.
- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) admitted it accidentally leaked the identities of more than 6,000 immigrants.
- Hope Health Systems of Maryland notified 9,972 patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.
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