Here is some industry news relating to MFPs.

–       Sharp announced that since 9/2012, it has authorized 17 new dealers in the United States to carry its digital copiers.

–       Toshiba, according to Wall Street Journal,announced it will slash the number of its manufacturing, marketing and service bases at home and abroad:

  • cut by 30% to around 1,000 by 3/2016, from current 1,400
  • it expects the restructuring program to reduce its expenses for the 3 year period from 4/1/2013 by 50 billion yen
  • the cutback will be implemented mainly by consolidating marketing and service bases overlapping in the same areas
  • company had a combined 1,900 business bases as of 3/31/2009, has been consolidating its business bases in recent years
  • plans to borrow $1.9 billion (160 billion yen) to refinance debt
  • has 50 billion yen loan that is due in January, 2013

–       Toshiba announced it will open branch offices in Riyadh, Saudi Africa and in South Africa to grow its sales in the countries.

–       A New York bankruptcy judge approved a deal ending terms of Kodak’s inkjet printer supply agreement with Samsung of Korea, with Samsung agreeing to pay $36.9 million.

–       Samsung announced it is working on a fix so that its Galaxy smartphones can no longer be hacked into:

  • applies to Android based phones using Exynos processors
  • hackers can take control of phone and install unwanted apps

–       Samsung printers and MFPs make people sick?

  • German investigators were called to town of Lower Saxony, when a number of government employees got sick.
  • The investigation revealed that their fleet of Samsung office equipment produced an amount of toner dust that exceeded emission limits.
  • Samsung was ordered to remove all 4,000 devices, and pay a fine of $1.3 million

–       Microsoft tablet PC woes.  According to Information Week magazine, Dell, HP and other vendors have delayed the launch of Windows 8 based tablet PCs, due to “PC makers aren’t able to make drivers stable enough”

–       Jefferson County school board member of Tennessee voted to approve a settlement regarding two copier lawsuits.  The board voted to return equipment to CIT, and pay $32,000 to DeLage Landen.

–       Panasonic announced that its KV-S1065C desktop scanner has been certified as a document capture device from Docuware, a German maker of electronic content management systems.

–       According to OpenText Corp, unstructured information (paper documents) accounts for more than 80% of an enterprise’s total information and represents the largest and fastest growing source of knowledge, innovation and efficiency available to organizations.

–       Ricoh sent out a press release stating that it views the Legal Vertical as a market with “strong momentum”

  • claims it is now the largest provider of legal document services in the U.S.
  • claims that the majority of the AmLaw 200 are its customers
  • now operates more than 40 document processing centers in the U.S.
  • has 4 data centers dedicated to eDiscovery services
  • total capacity to code 5 million pages per month
  • VP of Legal Vertical division at Ricoh is Eric Wangler

–       Ricoh, according to some industry observers, will be going through another restructuring in early 2013, due to disappointing results in 2012.

–       Xerox was given an additional $15.8 million for its managed IT contract to develop and operating the State of New Hampshire’s Medicaid program:

  • that brings total announced contract to $91.7 million
  • the original contract was $61 million, awarded in 2005
  • approval given despite past delays and cost overruns
  • new completion deadline is 3/31/2018

–       Xerox regional managed IT program manager, Ryan Nicholas, admitted that the speed cameras it installed in the State of Maryland issued tickets to innocent motorists 5.2% of the time, and it is working on a fix.

–       Xerox announced it acquired Restaurant Technology Services division of McDonalds Corp.

  • purchase price not announced
  • division has 600 employees, who provide support to 17,000 McDonalds restaurants around the world

–       Xerox announced it has purchased Toshiba dealer, Zoom Imaging:

  • former owner is Gary Johnson, who will stay on as president
  • headquartered in Roseville, CA
  • original name was WOLCO Business Systems
  • won Toshiba’s dealer of the year award in 2011
  • has 10 locations and 135 employees in central California
  • will now be part of Xerox’s Global Imaging division
  • will continue to sell Toshiba products, as well as Xerox
  • purchase price unknown

–       According to several newspapers, current Xerox CEO, Ursula Burns, may leave her current job to become Commerce Secretary for President Obama.

–       Fuji of Japan announced that its printer/copier division, which mostly relies on Xerox to sell its equipment (with Xerox name on it), may miss its sales target due to slowing demand:

  • “Even if we manage to achieve our earnings plan this fiscal year, it will still be quite hard for us to boost sales enough to reach the target.”; President Tadahito Yamamoto said in interview with Bloomberg News.
  • Suspended a new TV ad campaign to cut costs
  • “There are still measures such as making an acquisition that can help the company meet the goals”
  • sales fell 3.3% during last quarter
  • operating profit dropped 33%

–       Brother of Japan announced it will now offer document management software from Doculex as optional bundle with its MFPs, some of which will have LCD panel integration.

–       According to DC Financial Insights, 34% of smartphone users in U.S. have made a purchase using their mobile phone in past year.

–       According to Nielson study of direct mail:

  • 84% of recipients of direct mail, state that they open and read it
  • majority of people from 16-34 years old admitted they prefer to receive an envelope versus an email
  • 67% who read direct mail can recall the advertising message, versus only 11% with email
  • 44% admit to being curious and excited about reading content of direct mail

–       Pitney Bowes that recent study found that only 23% of statements (credit cards, etc.) carry advertising or personalized cross-selling messages.

–       According to InfoTrends, 95% of all transaction-related communications are opened and read each month.

–       According to the Direct Mail Association, response rates for direct mail:

  • 3.4% of existing customers respond to direct mail ad
  • 0.12% off existing customers respond to email ad
  • 60% of consumers prefer direct mail for marketing messages as compared to email
  • 85% of consumers say they read or at least scan their direct mail
  • 70% more likely to open direct mail with color text and graphics on front
  • 80% of Americans are now online, but businesses still sent 170 billion pieces of physical mail in past year
  • Only 11% of the world’s forests are used for paper
    • 25% of the world’s trees are used for lumber
    • 53% of the world’s trees are used for fuel

–       Graph-Tech of Switzerland launched the MonoCube digital inkjet press:

  • b/w inkjet technology
  • engine made by Kyocera of Japan
  • has water-cooled print system
  • up to 30.8” wide printing
  • top speed of 492 feet per minute
  • uses rolls of paper
  • 600x600dpi (interpolated to 1200dpi)
  • 4 bits per pixel
  • approximate cost per page of $0.002
  • pricing not announced

–       Nuance (maker of eCopy) announced it ranked #1 in the worldwide document capture solutions market, according to Harvey Spencer Associates survey, with 17% marketshare.

–       NSi (Notable Solutions Inc., maker of AutoStore) announced it won the “Superstar Award” from MobileVillage.com for its data capture, mobile printing and middleware technology.

–       Hewlett Packard announced it sold Indigo 5500, 7000 and 7500 production color systems to MSP, a printshop in western Pennsylvania.  MSP’s largest customer is Hallmark, for personalized greeting cards.

–       The City of Marlborough, Massachusetts announced it will redevelop a former Hewlett Packard campus on 109 acres into commercial office space, retail shops, restaurants and a hotel.

–       Hewlett Packard announced that it still has not fixed the data security issues in its Digital Sending Software (DSS), which is used by many of its scanners and LaserJet MFPs.  The fix, called v.4.91.4, is now scheduled for “sometime in 2013”.

–       Canon launched a software developer kit for “MEAP Web”:

  • will allow third party solution software makers to develop optional solution products for new Canon MFPs
  • unlike the previous MEAP (multifunction embedded application protocol) which was not very successful (most likely due to limitations of Java), the new architecture is web-based, and will offer integrated solutions (rather than embedded)

–       PCWorld magazine published results of reliability survey of owners of desktop inkjet and/or laser printers.  Scoring 1 to 10, with 10 being most satisfied:

  • Brother = 8.9
  • Samsung = 8.9
  • Canon = 8.8
  • Epson = 8.7
  • HP = 8.6
  • Kodak = 8.4
  • Ricoh = 8.3
  • Xerox = 8.2
  • Lexmark = 8.2
  • Dell = 8.0
  • Other statistics:
    • 45% of respondents say customer support hotline did not resolve problems
    • 60% are not satisfied with support received

–       Supplies Network Inc. announced a new online portal for dealers who offer managed print services:

  • Supplies Network provides remanufactured and OEM toner cartridges for a variety of printer brands
  • company also provides a cloud hosted platform so dealers do not have to purchase their own managed print services solution server
  • New tool is called “MyPrinterManager.com” featuring:
    • sales funnel tool
    • list details on all active contracts and prospect opportunities
    • view all devices under contract
    • see current supply levels
    • track toner cartridge shipments
    • manage service tickets
  • Executive Summary Report with actionable data and graphs
    • dealers can place their logo on site so it is viewable by their customers

–       Dennarius J. Barnett was arrested by Richmond, Kentucky police for making fake currency on a desktop color copier, when he attempted to return the machine to a local Walmart, and a clerk noticed that a fake $20 bill was still in the output tray.

–       AllScripts, a leading maker of EHRs, announced big changes after its stock value dropped:

  • announced that CEO, Glenn Tullman, is no longer with company
  • new CEO is Paul Black, who used to work for Cerner Corp, a direct competitor
  • Mr. Black’s new contract details:
    • 3 year contract with base salary of $1 million/year
    • $1.5 million annual bonus target
    • $1.25 million signing bonus
    • $3 million in shares vesting over 3 years
    • $3 million in incentive-based shares
    • $2.5 million in service-based restricted shares vesting over 4 years
    • $2.5 million in a performance-based equity award
  • also announced that the company is no longer for sale, and will remain as a standalone enterprise

–       Allscripts announced it won an EHR contract from Hutchinson Clinic of Kansas.

–       GE Healthcare & McKesson have both been sued over alleged patent infringement for their EHRs:

  • Ingeniador Inc. of Puerto Rico claims that both companies are violating a patent filed in 2006
  • company is run by former Hewlett Packard software engineer, Marco Polanco, who had previously sued HP
  • patent in question was acquired by Mr. Polanco from an oil services company

–       Epic announced it won EHR contracts from:

  • $135 million EHR contract from HealthEast of Minnesota.
  • U.S. Coast Guard
  • Scott & White Healthcare of Temple, Texas

–       eClinicalWorks announced it won EHR contracts from:

  • Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center of New Jersey
  • $240,000 from St. John’s Medical Center of Wyoming (to replace McKesson)

–       McKesson announced it won a Paragon EHR contract from Rideout Health of California.

–       SuccessEHS announced an EHR contract from ARcare locations (45ea) in Arkansas and Kentucky.

–       Healthland announced it won an EHR contract from New Horizons Health System of Kentucky.

–       Aviva Children’s Services of Tucson, AZ raised over $7,000 after conducting a Hostess Twinkie raffle.

–       Wells Fargo published data on which EHR doctors are using by vendor:

  • 21% = Epic
  • 12% = Allscripts
  • 8% = eClinicalWorks
  • 7% = NextGen
  • 6% = GE
  • 3% = McKesson
  • 3% = Greenway
  • 3% = Cerner
  • 3% = Practice Fusion
  • 2% = athenahealth

–       The California Institute of Technology announced that they have developed a microchip that could be placed inside an Apple iPhone which then could be used to give patients an X-Ray, using Terahertz radiation, which does not damage human tissue.

–       “In my opinion, there is not one successful EHR system in the whole world.  User friendliness, usability, and interoperability are not there.  We have been focusing too much on documentation for the purpose of reimbursement (from federal government).”; stated C. Peter Waegemann, founder of the Medical Records Institute.

–       Standard Register announced it won an electronic forms solution contract from Knox Community Hospital of Mount Vernon, Ohio.  (included 700 different forms)

–       According to Deltek Research, IT departments in the healthcare vertical will spend $19 billion on technology in 2017.

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