May 13, 2016
Kyocera comments on FY15 US results
– From Nori Ina of Kyocera Mita (aka Kyoto Ceramic Company) in interview gave out some details of sales in the U.S. during last fiscal year
– Business up 7.5%
– Increase in color A3 MFP units
Toshiba comments on FY15 US results
– From Bill Melo of Toshiba in interview gave out some details of printer/MFP sales in the U.S. during last fiscal year
– Business up in low single digits
– Profits are at record level
– Double digit growth in managed print services
– Slight increase in Toshiba branded devices, but more substantial increase in sales of Lexmark A4 units
– In MPS accounts, selling more HP/Lexmark than Toshiba hardware
– In 2016, will launch a new series of MFPs with new platform with new user interface
Toshiba reports last fiscal earnings
– Preliminary operating loss of 690 billion yen ($6.2 billion) compared with forecast loss of 430 billion yen
– Total sales of 5.5 trillion yen, versus earlier forecast of 6.2 trillion
– Will take a $2.3 billion writedown of its nuclear division
Ricoh comments on FY15 US results
– From Jim Corridi of Ricoh in interview gave out some details of printer/MFP sales in the U.S. during last fiscal year
– Growth in commercial sales
– Growth in production color units
– Experienced delays in larger deals closing
– Reduction in fleet production take downs
– Up 5% in revenue and units over last 3 years
– Up 5% in revenue and 8% in units on dealer side over last 3 years
Ricoh reports last fiscal year earnings
– Total sales up 2.7% to 2.2 trillion yen
– Gross profit down 2.8% t0 881.0 billion yen
– Operating profit down 11.6% to 102.2 billion yen
– Interest bearing debt up 62.2% to 852.8 billion yen
– Total sales in U.S. down 2.1% and operating profit down 6.4%
Ricoh wins production print contract
– Award from Drive Products Inc. of Mississauga, Canada
– Installed a Pro C7110X production color system
Sharp comments on FY15 US results
– From Doug Albregts of Sharp in interview gave out some details of sales in the U.S. during last fiscal year
– Business up 111% (includes LCD display sales)
– Hardware units up 1.5%
– Imaging revenue up because of production print
– Will introduce 13 new models in 2016 that all use same accessories and have same interface
– Papercut is most popular solutions for print management
Sharp gives details of new A3 color MFP
– MX-6070N with top speed of 60ppm
– 10.1″ touchscreen color LCD display o On right side of MFP, unlike earlier models
– “human sensor” which detects when users are approaching and wakes up from sleep mode
– Document feeder holds up to 180 originals o Top speed of 100opm
o Scans both sides of original at same time
– Can replace toner while unit is running
– Finishing options o Stapleless finisher (up to 5 sheets)
o Stapling finisher
– Built-in print controller o Scan to PowerPoint, Excel and Word
o Scan to searchable PDF
o Optional scan to OneDrive, SharePoint and Google Drive
– Pricing and ship date not announced
Sharp’s new boss, Terry Gou, in news
– Will open stores inside its 30 manufacturing plants to allow employees to purchase discounted Sharp-branded electronics
– Discussing possibility of developing robotic devices for mass market
– Will lay off about 1000 employees o Sharp’s employees in Japan is fewer than 20,000 at end of March
– Sharp will report about 250 billion yen loss ($2.3 billion)
– Plans to offer a stock-based incentive program to retain talented workers, as it grapples with an exodus of personnel o Tetsuo Onishi left his position as EVP, to take position at Nidec Corp.
Lexmark employee group writes letter
– The Lexmark Employees for Ethical Conduct group, makes following claims about what will happen now that Lexmark is being acquired: o Company plans to let 1,050 employees go
o Another 300-500 employees will be fired by late Q3 of 2016
o Goal is to reduce staff in Lexington, KS to 1,000
o The staff remaining in Lexington, KS will then be moved to Kofax HQ in Orange County, CA
o Company will then go private and little of it will remain except for brand name and 4,000 patents
Lexmark reports Q1 earnings
– Total revenue down 5.4% from $852 million to $806 million
– Gross margin down from 38.7% to 38%
– Operating income margin down from 5% to -4.8%
– Software revenue up 60% to $143 million
– Managed print services revenue up 2% to $189 million
– MFP/printer revenue down 14% to $460 million
– Net loss of $39.4 million
Fuji reports Q1 earnings
– Makes most of the printers and MFPs that Xerox sells
– Total revenue down 4% to 650.1 billion yen ($5.8 billion)
– Operating income up 19.4% to $514.7 million
– Operating margin up from 7.1% to 8.8%
– Net income up 57.7% to $349.9 million
– Document Solutions Business (MFPs and printers) revenue down 5.2% to $2.75 billion o Operating margin down 4% to $242.7 million
Millions spent on inkjet cartridges
– Police report that from 2012 until she quit the Las Vegas Valley Water District under a cloud in December, purchasing analyst Jennifer McCain-Bray spent $4.5 million of public money on print cartridges she then sold to a buyer in New Jersey for a cut of the money
– Apparently she admitted to “fraudulent purchases that resulted in personal gain.”
– The scheme is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI.
– Water district spokesman Bronson Mack couldn’t say exactly how many toner cartridges were fraudulently bought and sold through the utility’s purchasing department, but “we’re easily talking about tens of thousands.”
– According to the district, McCain-Bray used the agency’s mailing system to ship boxes of the cartridges to a New Jersey company called Symm Distributors Inc.
– Mack said the district’s purchasing manager, accounting supervisor and one of its finance analysts were placed on paid leave and were in the process of being fired when they left the public agency earlier this year. The purchasing manager retired in February, and the other two resigned in March.
– According to county property records, McCain-Bray and Robert Bray paid $350,000 in March 2015 for a four-bedroom house on just over an acre of land near Wigwam Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard in the southern valley.
– Seen inside the gated property Friday were several vehicles, including cars, trailers, an RV, a double-hulled powerboat and a late-model Audi SUV with the license plate JJJAMIN.
– Her job, with an annual salary of $97,880, involved dealing with vendors and buying supplies and materials for the valley’s largest water utility.
Large copier dealer makes acquisition
– Kelly Imaging Systems, with locations in the State of Washington, made two acquisitions: o Is already a dealer for Toshiba, Sharp, Lexmark, Muratec, HP & Kyocera
o Acquired Cascade Architectural & Engineering Supplies, a Canon and HP wide format printer dealer, with locations in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA
o Acquired Empire Office Machines, a Kyocera, Xerox and HP dealer with locations in Clarkston and Spokane, WA
Xerox reports its dismal Q1 earnings
– Profits down 84% to $34 million
– Total revenue down 4% to $4.28 billion
– Now expects full year GAAP earnings per share of 45 cents to 55 cents, down from previous forecast of 76 cents
– Projects full year cash flow of $950 million to $1.2 billion, down from $1.5 billion
– Document technology division (MFPs, printers, etc.) revenue down 10% to $1.6 billion o Equipment sales down 10% to $560 million § A4 color MFP units up 1%
- A4 b/w MFP units down 16%
- A3 color MFP units up 1%
- A3 b/w MFP units down 14%
- Production color installs up 56%
- Production b/w installs down 8%
o Service/supply contract revenue down 3% to $3.72 billion § Supplies revenue down 7%
o Total contract signings down 11%
o Contract value of new business signings up 6%, mostly from public sector
– Shed 4,800 employees for $124 million in severance costs
– Expects that cost to separate into two companies will cost up to $250 million
– Total debt of $7.4 billion
Xerox to take back money from its retirees?
– In a motion filed in court, attorneys for Xerox asked U.S. District Court Judge David Larimer to let the company claw back $2.6 million of the $4 million it ceded to workers in 2009
– The original lawsuit was filed in 1999 by Xerox workers who had taken early retirement buyouts and lump sum retirement plan distributions in the 1980s, and claimed that Xerox did not tell them that the payouts would reduce their future benefits
– In 2007, Judge Larimer ordered Xerox to pay the workers.
Kodak settles lawsuit
– Company reached a $9.7 million settlement with a propose d class of employees suing former top executives for allowing “imprudent” retirement investments in company stock even as Kodak was headed toward bankruptcy
– Judge in federal court in New York must now approve
Kodak wins production print contract
– Award from the Imaging & Publishing Support division of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley, VA
– Installed a Kodak NexPress 2500 production color sytem
HP wins wide format contract
– Award from RGS Reprographic Solutions of Las Vegas, NV
– Installed two PageWide XL8000 production color inkjet systems
Duplo launches new finishing system
– Launched the new Duplo 600 PRO Digital Booklet System
– Fully automated stitching, folding and trimming of booklets
– PC controllers for operators to create and save jobs for future recall
– Production speeds up to 5200 booklets per hour o Optional DKT-200 two knife trimmer increases speed to 9000 per hour
– Tool-less operations
– Job changeover times of less than one minute
– Pricing not announced
Quocirca study on US business paper usage
– 56% = require physical signatures
– 44% = have suppliers and customer that send paper
– 42% = staff prefers paper
– 38% = cultural resistance/disruptive change if go paperless
– 36% = compliance requirements for paper usage
– 24% = lack of understanding of paper-free solutions
– 24% = paper is more auditable/accessible/reliable
– 26% = lack of management initiative
– 10% = not cost effective to move to digital workflows
Number of printshops continues to decline
– The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of US commercial printing establishments contracted by 531
– New total is 26,187
Canon reports its Q1 earnings
– Operating profit dropped 39% to 40.1 billion yen ($361.4 million)
– Expects full year profit of 300 billion yen, down from earlier forecast of 360 billion yen
– Total sales down 7% to $7 billion
– Gross profit down 7.7%
– Net income down 17.5% to $247 million
– Operating profit from office equipment division down 38%
– Office equipment sales down 52.3% o MFPs down 14.1% § Color MFP units up 11%
- b/w MFP units down 6%
o Printers down 25.7%
Canon wins production print contract
– Award from HardingPoorman, a commercial printer in Indianapolis, IN
– Installed an imagePRESS C7011 production color system, imagePRESS C10000VP production color system and an Oce’ VarioPrint 6320 production b/w system
Hyland announces recent ECM contracts
– University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT
– John Carroll University of University Heights, OH/
– Brigham Young University of Rexburg, ID
LMI hires former Xerox executive
– Laser Masters International, maker of refurbished print cartridges, and headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, announced it has hired Terry Dixon as its new president.
– Previously, he was an EVP of Sales and Marketing for Global/Xerox, and before that was president of Chicago Office Technology (Global Xerox)
3D printer maker to leave US
– MakerBot, less than a year ago, opened a 170,000 square foot factory in Brooklyn, New York to build 3D printers
– Now announced that it has hired Jabil Corp. to produce all of its 3D printers (most likely at location in China)
– MakerBot’s CEO, Jonothan Jaglom, stated reason for change is to “navigate the volatility of an emerging market”
Staples donates 3D printers
– Celebrating Teacher Appreciation Week
– Will be providing select schools and universities nationwide a donation of over $425,000 in MakerBot 3D printers and supplies
– Some of the schools include: o Alliance College of Los Angeles, CA
o Wayne County Schools in Goldsboro, NC
o Dallas Independent School District of Dallas, TX
USA Today report busts myths about paper
– Published a column written by Tal Gross, a professor at Columbia University
– Students that read on paper versus screens score better in comprehension tests
– Students that take notes on paper versus a laptop learn more from lectures
– In the U.S. alone, the volume of trees on timberlands has increased 58% over the past 60 years
– Paper is on the most recycle products in the world with a recovery rate over 65% in North America
