Toshiba financial woes update
– Nikkei Asian Review newspaper reports that Toshiba is seeking buyers for shares in Toshiba Tec, the division that produces MFPs, printers, and cash registers o “Toshiba Tec’s core business has little connection with the rest of the group”
o “As Toshiba rebuilds by focusing on areas such as infrastructure, non-nuclear energy and communications technology, the Japanese company plans to shed peripheral operations”
o “Toshiba aims for a swift decision regarding Toshiba Tec, having selected an advisory firm to assist in searching for buyers…”
– Company had signed a contract last year with a US company to buy liquefied natural gas for 20 years starting in 2019 when production begins. In worst case, if Toshiba fails to resell the gas, it would results in a loss of 1 trillion yen.
– “The future hidden liabilities have yet be wiped out completely”; stated Yoshiharu Izumi of Longine Investment Information.
– Has sold its medical equipment leasing company to Canon for 3.14 billion yen o (Canon bought the Toshiba Medical Equipment Manufacturing division last year for $5.9 billion)
– Liberty Times newspaper reports that Hon Hai Precision of Taiwan (aka Foxconn) is working with TSMC to file a joint bid for the memory chip division of Toshiba. o The Korean Herald newspaper believes that winning bid would be as high as $8.7 billion
– Announced it will hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting on 3/30/17
– Reuters News Service is reporting that the company is accelerating a study of the possibility of filing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy for nuclear division o Company hired Weil, Gotshal & Manges, a US based bankruptcy expert law firm
o “If they don’t quickly decide the chapter 11 thing over in America, the Westinghouse (nuclear division) portion won’t be nailed down, making it impossible for Toshiba to release its results.”; stated Taro Aso, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister for Japan.
Muratec Label University agenda announced
– Muratec to present business plan for dealers entering the label equipment market in conjunction with ITEX dealer show. o April 18th at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, NV
o Why, how, sales and marketing, financing, and servicing to the agenda.
o Product showcase during “university” as well as at ITEX show.
Samsung makes large acquisition
– Announced it spent $8 billion to acquire Harmon International Industries
– Maker of automotive, smart audio and complementary technologies under brands of Harman Kardon, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson
Toshiba prepares for national dealer event
– Toshiba’s “LEAD” conference will be held on 5/2-4/2017 in Orlando, FL
– First part of event is for Toshiba dealer personnel
– Second part of event is for end users invited either by dealers or Toshiba branches
– Will launch new “Elevate” platform for its new MFPs o Uses applications to customize the MFP for each customer
o “Our Elevate platform not only lets dealers sell a differentiated product, but also enables them to create a professional rep services revenue stream that is distinct and different from anything they are doing today.”; stated Bill Melo, Toshiba spokesperson
o Launch new V360 Vertical Marketing Program to educate dealer sales reps how to sell to most popular verticals § Includes training program, sell-through programs, incentive programs, and digital marketing materials for each vertical
§ Specifics on the set of solutions to offer each vertical
Samsung’s leader on trial for corruption
– Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s de facto leader, was indicted in South Korea on bribery and embezzlement charges
– Mr. Lee was arrested on 2/17/17 and 4 other Samsung executives were also indicted, but not arrested
– Trial starts this week where Mr. Lee is accused of bribing government officials to back a merger of two Samsung Group holding companies, to strengthen his control over the company o “Everyone denies all the charges.”; stated one of the defense attorneys
– Bloomberg News reports; “any acquisitions, major management shuffles and changes to corporate structure will probably have to wait until Lee’s legal issues subside” o The $1.05 billion sale of Samsung’s printer/MFP division was supposed to conclude in 9/2017
Samsung devices hacked says Wikileaks
– In a trove of documents posted by Wikileaks, claims are made about what the CIA does to spy on people with devices
– Documents state that CIA is able to hack into Samsung smartphones, tablets and even TVs
– Even if the devices appear to be off, the microphones can be apparently turned on remotely so that CIA can listen in on nearby conversations
– Samsung spokesperson stated; “We are aware of the report in question and are urgently looking into the matter”
Xerox buys another dealer
– Announced that its Global Imaging division acquired Laser Resources Inc. of Des Moines, Iowa
– LRI is a dealer for Konica Minolta, Canon, Toshiba and Lexmark
Xerox wins production print contract
– Award from New Point Cards & Printers of Pune, India
– Installed a Xerox Color 1000i production color laser system
– Included optional gold, silver and clear toners
– Used to produce wedding cards, letterheads and gift products
CIO magazine publishes research
– Published results of CIO survey in “2017 State of the CIO” report from IDC
– Foresee spending less time on functional duties, from 20% to 7%
– 72% struggle to juggle business innovation and operational excellence requirements
– 20% describe themselves as functional, down from 27% o 50% = transformational, up from 45%
o 31% = strategic, up from 27%
– 63% of transformation CIOs categorized their work as rewarding o 71% = strategic is rewarding
o 46% = functional is rewarding
– 51% say security and IT are tightly integrated, up from 37%
– 41% spend time on security management
– How do line of business executives view role of CIO o 41% = strategic advisor
o 22% = business consultant
o 27% = actively recommending solutions
o 24% = successfully collaborating on building business case
o 31% = developing technical requirements
– 41% are identifying business opportunities for digital transformation
– What are CIO’s paid? o $306,300 per year on average for enterprise CIOs
o $214,020 for SMB CIOs
o $340,780 for CIO in financial services companies
o $170,650 for government CIOs
– 61% are communicating with board of directors
– 76% meet with customers
– How are CIOs involved with purchasing decisions? o 66% = meet and evaluate vendors
o 65% = consult to determine needs and requirements
o 60% = approve solution purchase
o 60% = oversee implementation
o 57% = negotiate terms and service agreements
o 52% = make final vendor selection
Impending changes to equipment leases
– In February of 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Topic 842 accounting standard
– Will impact financial reporting for entities that are required to report their financial results in accordance with GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles)
– Does not impact tax treatment of leases
– Takes effect on 12/15/2018 for public companies
– Takes effect on 12/15/2019 for private companies
– Companies will be required to recognize and measure leases in their financial statements
– Maintains concept of a finance lease (formerly a capital lease) and operating lease
– Operating leases will have to be reported on the balance sheet, but classified as operating liability, rather than debt
– May impact customer’s credit line and convenants
– Does not apply to leases that are 12 months or less
– In bundled lease that includes equipment and service contracts, only the equipment portion of lease is required to be reported on balance sheet
Ricoh wins university contract
– Award from the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
– Contract includes 5 million impressions per year
– Includes 444 total devices (printers and MFPs) and DigiCOPY copy center
Ricoh wins 3D printer contracts
– Sells the AM S5500P, a polymer sintering system
– Won contracts to install at: o Daimler Corp. of Germany
o Laser Zentrum Nord of Germany
o CRP Group of Italy
o All are using to create prototypes
Ricoh wins production print contracts
– Award from Tituprint of Rajashan, India o Installed a Pro C9100 production color laser system
o Reasons given for choosing include ability to run 400gsm and 1200x4800dpi
– Award from InfoSend of California o Installed a Pro VC60000 production color inkjet system
o Used to produce direct mail pieces
– Award from Tri-Win Direct of Dallas, TX o Installed a Pro VC60000
o Used to produce 200 million direct mail pieces per year
– Award from Pondres, a commercial printer in The Netherlands o Installed a Pro VC60000
– Award from Walter Digital of Germany o Installed a Pro VC60000
o Used to produce direct mail pieces, point of sale materials, marketing collateral and product manuals
– Urban Fulfillment Services of Broomfield, CO o Installed a Pro VC40000 production inkjet system
o Produce output for financial services vertical
– Claims to now have 650 production inkjet systems installed in 29 countries
Copier dealer buys managed IT company
– Cell Business Equipment (aka CBE Office Solutions) announced it acquired QLAN Corp., a managed IT services company in Laguna Hills, CA
– CBE is located in Irvine, Gardena, City of Industry & Ontario, CA and is a dealer for Ricoh, Sharp & Canon
Mega dealer buys another dealer
– Novacopy announced it has acquired CSS Document Solutions of Meridian, Mississippi
– CSS is a dealer for Savin (Ricoh) and Kyocera MFPs
– Novacopy is headquartered in Nashville, TN
Kodak to sell division to Xerox?
– According to PrintWeek magazine, a source is claiming that Kodak will sell its Prospect production inkjet systems division to Xerox
– Includes the new 1800dpi UltraStream technology
– If acquired, would become part of Xerox’s inkjet division which includes Impika, a French company acquired in 2013 for $11 billion
– Prosper division had sales of $68 million in 2016, with a loss of $26 million
Kodak to brand non-OEM toner
– Announced that it is partnering with Dynamic Cassette of England and Boston, MA
– Will produce Kodak-branded ink and toner cartridges for use in competing printers and MFPs made by Epson, Canon, Samsung and Brother
Kyocera launches new high speed printers
– Now shipping the ECOSYS P3060dn, P3055dn, P3050dn & P3045dn
– all are A4 b/w laser printers
– Top speeds of 62ppm, 57ppm, 52ppm & 47ppm respectively
– MSRPs of $2439, $1629, $1469 & $1259
– 1200x1200dpi
– Max duty cycle of 275K/month
– 25 second warmup time
– Comes standard with 100 sheet bypass and 500 sheet drawer o With options, max capacity of 2600 sheets
o Handles up to 220gsm
o Auto duplex up to 120gsm
– 5 line LCD control panel
– Built-in print controller o 10/100/1000BaseT & USB ports
o PCL, PS and XPS print drivers standard
o 512MB RAM standard, can upgrade to 2.5GB RAM
o Optional 128GB hard drive § Optional data security kit
o 1.2 GHz processor
Epson publishes survey of paper usage
– Survey of office workers about paper usage
– 81% consider printing vital in helping them work effectively
– 76% feel a paperless office is unrealistic
– 88% consider printing critical to the way their industry operates
– 44% print at least 10 documents per day
– 16% waste of don’t’ use more than 30% of what they print out
– 76% believe that environmental preservation is important
– Most common jobs printed: o Invoices
o Letters
o Reports
o Brochures
o Email attachments
o Report notes
Hyland Software wins contract
– Award from Rollins College of Winter Park, Florida
– Installed its OnBase ECM system
– Replaced Lexmark Perceptive Nolij system
– Integrated with Banner ERP from Ellucian Software
Canon wins production print contracts
– Award from Arna Marketing Group of Branchburg, New Jersey o Installed an Oce’ VarioPrint i300 production color inkjet system and two ColorStream 3900X b/w production inkjet systems
o Will be used to produce variable direct mail and transpromo pieces
– Award from Tituprint of India o Installed a Canon imagePRESS C10000VP production color laser system
Canon now shipping new b/w production
– Launched the varioPRINT 140 series
– Production b/w A3 toner systems
– Available in 115ppm, 130ppm and 140ppm versions
– Designed for customers with average of 800K/month volumes
– Max duty cycle of 2.2 million/month
– Uses PRISMAsync Print Server
– Oce’ DirectPress Technology
– Finishing options include: o Stapling and saddle stitching
o Folding
o Die punching
o Insertion
o Ring binding
o High capacity stackers
Canon launches new wide format printers
– Launched the Oce’ Colorado 1640 series
– Handles rolls of media up to 64” wide
– A roll-to-roll system design
– Uses UVgel, a ultraviolet light-cured gel that does not have long dry time of conventional ink systems o UVgel requires 0.125 milliliters per square foot, compared to 1.57ml for latex
– Uses piezo crystal printhead technology
– Separate LED UV light passes over jetted image to cure it without slowing down print speed
– Top speed of 1710 square feet per hour
– CMYK colors
– Holds up to 2 rolls of paper
– Base MSRP of $58,000
Canon partnership with cloud services
– Announced reseller relationships with Box, Inc. and MxHero, Inc.
– Cloud-based capabilities for sending and receiving large files
– Security features and limited mailbox quotas
Large format printer sales growth
– From report published by IDC
– Total shipments and revenue up 4% year over year
– Shipments of printers for CAD/technical printing up 4.4%
– Shipments to graphics market up 3.8%
– Marketshare last quarter by vendor: o HP = up 4.2% to 25% with $246.94 million in revenue
o Canon/Oce’ = down 14.8% to 12.1% with $119.63 million
o Epson = up 20.4% to 7.6% with $75.01 million
o Mimaki = up 10% to 5.7% with $56.3 million
o Roland = down 1.1% to 5.1% with $50.1 million
o Others (includes KIP) = up 11.1% to 44.6% with $440.83 million
Hardcopy peripheral sales growth
– From report published by IDC
– Worldwide hardcopy peripheral (printers and MFPs) market grew 0.6% to 26.6 million units during last quarter
– Includes inkjet and toner based devices
– Laser based devices up 1.6%
– Shipment value up to $14 billion in quarter
– Vendor marketshare leaders: o HP up 4.3% to 10 million units
o Canon up 1.4%
o Epson up 1.1%
o Samsung down 25.2%
Democrat operative promotes faxing
– Former operative working for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, Jason Putorti, launched new venture, called “Resistbot”
– This non-profit has created an app for smartphones and mobile devices
– Users of the Resisbot app, type in a text message, along with their zip code, and their message is then converted to a fax, which is sent to the appropriate Senators or House Representatives office in Washington DC.
Ricoh creates healthcare versions of MFPs
– took several versions of its current MFPs and added features as well as the letters “TL” or “TE” to the model numbers
– The MP 501SPFTL and SP 4510FTE MFPs as well as the SP4510DNTE/SP and SP 5300DNTL print only devices offer different firmware that offers more data security to protect PHI o Also equipped with a paper drawer with a lock so it can hold the expensive pre-printed prescription paper for states in the U.S. that force healthcare providers to use these forms
o The MP 501SPFTL and SP 5300DNTL also offer paper drawers that have inside coated with Teflon, to minimize paper jams that can occur when loaded with wristband or label materials used in healthcare
Canon comments on medical division
– Last year it purchased the Medical Systems division of Toshiba for almost $6 billion
– Canon’s first president in 1937, was Takeshi Mitarai, an obstetrician
– “As Canon’s first president was a doctor, there was always a yearning to make healthcare one of our main businesses.”; stated Canon’s CEO, Futio Mitarai
– “We are delighted that Toshiba Medical is joining out group”
– “It feels as if our dream of launching into the global healthcare market has been achieved, all in one fell swoop.”
– “We have now lined up new businesses in 4 key growth areas – commercial printing, network cameras, industrial devices and healthcare”
– “From this year, we plan to redouble our efforts, particularly in healthcare”
– “healthcare is an area of the greatest potential”
