Toshiba financial issues update
– Executives from Toshiba and Western Digital will meet to attempt to break a deadlock over Toshiba’s urgent effort to find a buyer for its NAND memory chip manufacturing division o The chip unit is responsible for 90% of Toshiba’s profits during last quarter
o Western Digital is reportedly offering $17.4 billion for the unit
o Company is looking to sell the unit before the end of its fiscal year in March, 2018, so it can end the year without a negative net worth., which would result in delisting from Tokyo Stock Exchange.
– Reuters News Service reported that Toshiba sold $58.6 million worth of stock it held of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.
– Two South Carolina utilities will cease the $14 billion construction of a pair of nuclear plants this month, and over 100 manufacturing workers will lose their jobs due to demise of the nuclear plant division of Toshiba (Westinghouse)
– The head of auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), in an interview, denied that the firm came under political pressure to sign off on the financial report for Toshiba. o Toshiba was under pressure to get the signoff to avoid being delisted completely from the Tokyo Stock Exchange
o PwC originally stated that it believed Toshiba should have recorded the 652 billion yen loss from its nuclear division in fiscal 2016, instead of fiscal 2017.
o If Toshiba would have done this, it would mean that the company would have reported two years in a row, which would have been grounds for delisting from Tokyo Stock Exchange
o Toshiba could still be delisted depending on the ongoing probe by the Japan Exchange Group
Toshiba wins award from dealers
– The Business Technology Association announced that dealers in the U.S. selected Toshiba to win the “Primary Product Line Provider” award for the 14th time
– “We are honored to be recognized by the dealer community and the BTA for our 46th Channel’s Choice Award”; stated Larry White, SVP.
Xerox survey on printing costs
– Published results of survey of small-medium sized business owners
– 64% cannot track how much their print devices cost or their usage
– 90% have had some type of breach due to unsecure printing
– 56% report billing and invoices as paper intensive processes
– 53% say financial reporting is very paper intensive
– 51% say HR forms and employee files generate lots of printing
– 47% complain about employees printing email
– 47% say legal signatures are a big drain on printer usage
– 40% report that purchasing approvals, marketing materials, and customer quotations also take up lots of printing resources
– 3 minutes is average wait time for shared printer, or 13 wasted hours per year per employee
Xerox wins production print contract
– Award from Deer Valley Unified School District, for their copy center in Phoenix, AZ o Installed a Xerox D125 and 4127 production b/w laser systems
o Used to produce royalty free curriculum
– Award from Miami University of Ohio o For its copy center
o FM contract including staffing
Sharp reveals last quarter’s earnings
– Now owned by Hon Hai Precision of Taiwan (aka Foxconn)
– Net sales up 19.6% to $4.6 billion
– Operating profit of $156,977 million
– Printer/MFP/Signage division revenue down 6.9& to $661.8 million o
MFP units down
o Profit down 48.8% to $27.5 million
HP reveals last quarter’s earnings
– Printer/MFP division had total revenue up 6% to $4.7 billion o Operating profit of $813 million or 17.3% of revenue
o Supplies revenue up 10% to $3.12 billion
o Total hardware units up 1% §
Commercial hardware units flat (this includes new A3 MFP units)
•
Commercial hardware revenue down 2% to $986 million
§ Consumer hardware units up1% • Consumer hardware revenue up 3% to $592 million
HP wins production print contract
– Award from Modern Woodmen of America, for their copy center, located in Rock Island, IL
– Installed an Indigo 7600 production color system
– Used to produce banners, posters, business cards, invoices, pocket folders, postcards and brochures
HP partners with Deloitte to push 3D print
– Focused on “accelerating the $12 trillion global-manufacturing industry’s conversion to additive manufacturing and digital technology”
– Calls it the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”
– Will utilize Deloitte’s global client reach and manufacturing relationships through its “Supply Chain and Manufacturing Operations” consulting practice
Lexmark launches new solution
– Lexmark (aka Ninestar of China) launched new “In-Store Capture Solution for Retail”
– Option for its MFPs that allow integrated app in the LCD panel
– Features to be marketed to retailers include: o Onboarding – store can scan printed document from new hire packet to HR
o Invoices: send scanned invoices to appropriate approver
o Receiving: scan receiving documentation to pass to enterprise storage system
Lexmark hit with yet another lawsuit
– Lexmark (aka Ninestar of China), was notified it is being sued by the law firm of Glancy Prongay & Murray.
– The class action suit represents investors alleges that Lexmark made materially false and/or misleading statements, causing investors to suffer losses.
Cartridge World launches contest
– Claims that 90% of businesses don’t know how much they are spending on printing
– launching ‘Office Printing On The BrINK,’ a national contest that will award 3 businesses with a free printer and ink or toner cartridges for a year
– entrants go to website and explain why their printing is out of control
– prize has an approximate value of $1,200
– Cartridge World now has over 350 stores in North America and over 1,000 worldwide in 55 countries
Flexprint predicts it will double revenue
– FlexPrint, a managed print services dealer (HP & Lanier), headquartered in Mesa, Arizona, reported that its annual revenue currently exceeds $100 million
– Also suggesting that it is forecasting new acquisitions to contribute to a doubling of sales to more than $200 million
– FlexPrint is owned by Oval Partners of San Francisco, which has also acquired 3 others dealers in Arizona, as well as Cannon IV of Indiana, Ohio and Texas.
Fujistu to exit smartphone business?
– The Nikkei Asian Review newspaper is reporting that Fujitsu (no related to Fujifilm) is looking to sell its mobile phone business
– Possible buyers include; Lenovo of China, and Hon Hai Precision of Taiwan
– Fujitsu will join NEC, Panasonic, Toshiba & Mitsubishi in leaving industry
Epson sues companies in Nevada
– Epson’s lawsuit against an alleged ring of inkjet cartridge counterfeiters in Nevada.
– couple of raids that Epson conducted on the defendants with the help of U.S. Marshals
– Epson won an order seizing and impounding certain defendants’ assets
– Epson filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada against InkSystem LLC, AF LLC, ART LLC, Lucky Print LLC, and Inkredible LLC LLC, along with three individuals (Andriy Kravchuk, Igor Bielov, and Artem Koshkalda and Vitalii Maliuk
Canon wins patent infringement case
– In a Georgia district court, a jury determined that Color Imaging and General Plastic had infringed a patent Canon holds on toner bottles
– awarded Canon nearly $4.5 million
– the two firms were marketing toner cartridges as genuine OEM for use in Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFPs and printers
Ricoh wins production print contract
– award from West Port Print & Design of London, England
– installed a PRO C7100SX production color laser system with clear toner option
Canon has new integrations
– announced partnership with Box Inc., a cloud-based content management platform
– announced partnership with mxHero Inc., a cloud-based service for intelligent email management
– allows Canon resellers to offer end users unlimited cloud storage and automatic substitution of email attachments with Box links
– to be bundled with imageRUNNER ADVANCE MFPs and uniFLOW solutions
Ricoh publishes survey results
– survey of mid-sized businesses
– 90% of decision makers identify lack of technology access as a cause of missed revenue
– 15% is mean of missed revenue
– 42% state that inefficient deployment and training of technology use was key issue
– 33% say vendors not offering right products and services
– 32% believe that IT teams do not identify new technology
– 12% do not have access to new technology due to cost constraints
Domino offers new ink for PPS
– Domino Digital Printing Solutions announced it will offer a new fluorescent ink as an option for its K600i production color inkjet system
– Uses piezo crystal inkjet print head technology
– New ink prints clear, but fluoresces green under UV light
IDC report on Social Buying
– 84% of senior buyers claim that online social networks play a vital role in purchase process
– 56% use LinkedIn to support purchase process
– 76% prefer to work with vendors that have been recommended
– 73% prefer to work with sales reps who have been referred
– 65% check references with colleagues, friends, acquaintances
– 64% appreciate intros to new people
– 63% appreciate being contacted by sales rep at right time with relevant info
– 59% prefer to buy from rep who knowns my colleagues, friends, acquaintances
Android launches new printing support
– Google announced that is new operating system, “Oreo”, for mobile devices, will offer a default print service that enables users to print on modern printers and MFPs that support the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) without needing to use any additional applications
– Change is due to the Mopria Alliance
Xeikon wins production print contract
– Award from DME Delivers, a commercial printer and marketing company in Florida
– Installed 4ea of the Xeikon 9600 production color LED systems
– Will be used to produce personalized wrapping paper among other products
– Reasons to choose include top speed of 47ft/min
Samsung leader to go to prison?
– Jay Y. Lee, the 49 year old defacto leader of Samsung, was sentenced to 5 years in prison for his role in bribery and corruption. o Court ruled that Lee was guilty of “offering bribes, embezzling funds, hiding assets overseas, concealing profits from criminal acts and perjury”
o “The essence of the case is unethical collusion between political power and capital,” the court said in a statement
o His personal net worth is $7 billion
o Prosecutors had asked for a 12 year sentence
– “It’s like a rite of passage. The question will really be how long does he serve.”; staed David Kang, Director of Korean Studies for USC. o Kang predicts that South Korean President Moon Jae-in will commute the sentence., even though he campaigned on promising to crack down on family conglomerates.
o Lee’s father was twice sentenced to prison, and was twice pardoned.
Xerox to develop new healthcare products
– Xerox announced that its Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), will partner with the Innovation Lab, an Innovation Institute company, to work on medical technology, engineering and robotics.
– “The idea behind the partnership is to bring together an organization well versed in advanced technology, such as printed electronics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, and combine it with a group that works with physicians, employees, and industry partners”, said Steve Hoover, Xerox CTO. “Together we will develop new products, ideas, and concepts that can be commercialized to reduce costs and transform health care delivery.”
– Innovation Lab works in alliance with Cleveland Clinic Innovations, Global Healthcare Innovations Alliance, California Institute of Technology, and Society of Physician Entrepreneurs (SoPE).
