Copier Sales "Friday Night Lights"

Being in the business for almost 30 years means you've been on many appointments. But you always seem to remember the appointments that are scheduled on the off hours. Such as very early in the AM (I don't set too many of these) and then the weekend appointments (especially when you need to hit your numbers), however the ones I remember most are appointments done after hours or in the evenings.

I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that many of you have never had a late night or early evening appointment, now late night appointments to me are the ones that are after 7PM. The later the better and if it's a Friday, then pretty much I'm a happy guy.

Consider this, if someone is willing to see you on a Friday night, make sure you bring all of the documents you need to sign the order! This just happened to me this Friday, originally we had the appointment for Thursday evening, but I had a call to reschedule for Friday, did I feel like going on a Friday evening..., well,... no, but I knew the chances of getting an order goes through the roof!

After the appointment, I had the order and a check for 60ppm color device!! Nice way to end the week huh?

Point is, if you've had trouble with hooking up with your customer during the week, ask for an evening appointment, only the serious will commit and you pretty much bank on getting the order.

-=Good Selling=-

Copier Sales "The Hardier I Work the Luckier I Get"

Just a short story for everyone today. Back in December of last year I was asked to quote on a copier for a local company. Not a big unit or sale, but a 25ppm monochrome device.

The company new and credit was extremley hard to get approved, after six weeks of trying off and on, we finally got it done. I called the customer and they didn't have the time to wait and had negotiated with another company (sort of like a sub lease). Well almost a year later and I got a call from the company that they had kicked out the old vendor and needed another system. We got the call!

The 3 D's represent Desire, Dedication and Determination. Desire to succeed, Dedication to your profession by being a professional sales person and not someone who slings mud at either the competition or the other sales people, Determination to be the best at your craft and to always have the zeal to learn as much as possible!!

-=Good Selling=-

Copier Sales "Increase Year End with Section 179"!

Now is the perfect time for your customers to lease equipment. Congress recently extended the section 179 expensing section included in the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. Section 179 allows small businesses to expense up to $250,000!! of the cost of equipment and accelerate the depreciation on the equipment placed in service this year. This effectively allows your customers to acquire your equipment at a significantly lower cost.

Equipment must be placed in service during 2009. $ 1 purchase options qualify for section 179. Below is an example of the financial impact to the customer:

* Equipment sale & lease is for $50,000
* Customers anticipated net income for 2009 is $ 70,000
* Customer makes one lease payment in 2009 for as little as $150 and they can take an immediate deduction of $50,000 using section 179
* Customers taxable income is reduced to $20,000 reducing net taxes due significantly.

Print4Pay Hotel does not offer tax or accounting advice. Your customer should consult their accountant.


-=Good Selling=-

MFP Weekend Industry Notes 11/2/09

Hewlett Packard loses one of its largest distributors in Australia, Phoenix Toner. The general manager, Don Bentley, stated; “The business didn’t want to have that amount of cash tied up in something that was not profitable”, referencing the HP printer supplies that it sold. The company will now concentrate on other brands.

- Hewlett Packard has filed an injunction with the U.S. International Trade Commission in an attempt to bar Asian companies from importing print cartridges into the U.S. that violate HP’s patents and work with HP printers. The companies involved include Ninestar Technology of China, InkTec of South Korea and Acer of Taipei.

- Hewlett Packard announced a partnership with the University of Michigan to sell physical copies of over 500,000 rare books, while making digital versions available online for free. HP’s BookPrep service will take in raw scans of books, clean them up, and then offer print-on-demand copies for sale.

- MyFax Inc. announced that end users can download a free program that will allow anyone to fax from an application, using Internet Fax. The free software, MyFax Print-to-Fax Assistant, allows end users to Internet fax, by choosing Print from their application. End users must have an Interfax service, which MyFax can provide for a monthly subscription fee.

- Kofax, maker of document management software, announced that when businesses acquire a Fujitsu business scanner, they can get 50% off on Kofax Express software.

- Williams Lea announced it won a huge facilities management contract from Elizabeth Arden, a worldwide cosmetic company.

- A Chicago area man faces up to 20 years in prison for falsely claiming he was reselling high speed production print systems. Matthew Scott, owner of Gelsco Inc. of Northlake, Illinois, started as a printer repair company. However, in last 9 years Mr. Scott supposedly bilked 60 investors out of $28 million, claiming he was buying printers worth more than $100,000, and was able to resell them in under 90 days for 20% profit.

- A study conducted by Harris Interactive reveals that two out of three Americans prefer print media to email ads:
- 58% believe that the paperless office will never happen
- 64% prefer reading print on paper versus computer screen
- 67% would rather save money than save the environment
- 11% believe their company is now less likely to “be green”
- 26% say their company outsources print jobs at least once per year
- 19% say their company orders print over the Internet

- Kyocera announced two new options for its MFPs:
- ColorLock allows businesses to control color printing, achieved by offering a log-in screen that requests users to enter a passcode before they can use MFP, and allows color only to authorized users.
- AccessLock allows IT managers, through Microsoft Windows Active Directory, to set parameters to allow users access only to features need by their employee job functions

- Toshiba announced it is now reselling new solution software from Prism:
- deskRecord
- deskSystem
- deskForm

- Toshiba released its last quarter’s financials:
- Net loss of $2.2 million
- Sales fell 14%
- Will cut fixed costs by 10% on top of existing plan to cut 300 billion yen
- Will cut 3900 employees
- Will reduce research & development costs by 15%
- Will cut spending on equipment and factories by 59%

- Toshiba is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly trying to fix prices and rig bids for computer optical disk drives.

- Toshiba launched a new battery it hopes to be used in cell phones. The Dynario is palm sized, and uses a mixture of methanol and ambient oxygen. The chemical reaction between the two generates electricity.

- Lexmark announced it has hired former Ricoh executive, Ken Owen, as Value Print Channel Development Director. This new position’s goal is to increase channel awareness of Lexmark’s managed print services program.

- University researchers trying to find way to remove toner from paper. Thomas Counsell & Julian Allwood of the University of Cambridge, claim that when they expose a printed image to 60% demethylsulphoxide and 40% chloroform, followed by ultrasound, toner is removed, and paper is reusable.

- Athens-Clarke County police in Georgia are on the lookout for someone who is making fake $20 bills on a color copier. Most recently, the fake currency was used to buy Halloween figures from a local retailer.

- EFI announced that its products, including Fiery print servers and MicroPress print systems, would immediately support Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 7.

- EFI announced details on its last quarter’s financials:
- revenues of $100.9 million, down 30%
- net loss of $12.2 million
- net income of $1.2 million
- 22% growth in inkjet business
- Fiery revenue down 38% to $42 million
- Gross margin was down 57%

- EFI, in an effort to boost value of its stock, announced it will buy back $70 million worth of its shares.

- IDC announced that the enterprise publishing market (transpromo VDP production print) grew 8.3% in 2008, and “will continue to post strong growth over the next 5 years”.

- BEI, a company that tracks service data for copier dealers and market service management software, announced it has hired former Global/Xerox executive, Steve Rolla. Previous to Global, he was an executive with IKON.

- One leasing company buys another. EverBank Financial’s CEO Rob Clements, announced that the company acquired Tygris Commercial Finance Group. Purchase price not revealed.

- Another obscure company acquires patents and sues for licensing fees. St. Clair Intellectual Property Consultants, of Michigan, is now suing Apple Computer as it claims the company is violating patents it owns regarding digital camera technology. The company already has won the following lawsuits:
- $25 million from Sony Corp.
- $34.7 million from Canon
- $3 million from Fuji
- Other deals were struck with HP, Kodak, Verizon, Motorola & Sanyo

- Red Bend Software Inc. of Israel, is suing Google for patent infringement, claiming that the company violated a patented algorithm in Google Chrome Web browser.

- A managed print services company gets purchased. MyPrint Corp. of Irvine, CA, announced that a majority interest in the company was purchased by Triton Pacific Capital Partners, a private equity firm in Los Angeles. MyPrint’s president, Jeff Carlson, stated; “We are all excited about the opportunities to work closely with the Triton Pacific team in growing MyPrint to the next level”

- Sanyo, which is about to become a part of Panasonic, announced it sold its battery plants to Fujitsu for $71 million.

- Sharp reported its latest financials:
- net loss of $196 million for first half of fiscal year
- operating profit fell 96.9%
- total revenue fell 17.5%
- copier sales revenue down 19.2%

- Kodak reported its last quarter’s financials:
- revenue fell 26%
- net loss of $111 million
- revenue in production print fell 18%

- Oce’ announced it sold a VarioPrint 6160 monochrome production print system & CS665 Pro color system (relabeled Konica Minolta bizhub PRO C6501) to Fry Communications, a print shop in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The equipment will be used to print variable data direct mail pieces.

- Oce’ announced that the president of its Production Printing Systems division, Mel Babolyian, was named to the board of directors of NPES, the association for suppliers of printing, publishing, and converting technologies.

- Konica Minolta is partnering with companies in Russia to develop nanotechnology. The partnership with Sun Innovations and RUSNANO Corp, will apparently use industrial inkjet printers to make special coatings for solar panels.

- The Japan Industrial Design Promotion Organization (JIDPO), has given Konica Minolta four “Good Design” awards for the bizhub C220, C280, C360, C452, C552, C652, PRO 1051 and PRO 1200.

- Whack an old printer for a dollar. Students, faculty and staff at Purdue University were given the chance to use a sledgehammer to smash an old printer to raise money for the computer graphics department.

- The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), which tracks lending practices, stated that equipment leasing revenue fell 30.9% in September from the same month in the previous year to $4.7 billion. This is because of increase in delinquencies.

- Image Print & Sign Ltd. of New Zealand was fined by local government for illegally making copies of copyrighted books.

- PrintFleet is partnering with De Lage Landen in Europe to help copier dealers sell managed print services with a cpc lease program.

- In a survey of independent copier dealer service managers, Office Products Analysts found:
- average scanned pages per month on a scan-enabled MFP is 3,000 pages per month
- favorite brand based on reliability was Kyocera
- 54% admitted that they use Non factory original parts when they fix their copiers in the field
- 52% admitted that they provide their customers with Non factory original toner

-=Good Selling=-

Canon imageRUNNER Advance "Spec Review"

- More tentative details on the new Canon imageRUNNER ADVANCE series of color MFPs:
- Outside of units have new off-white plastic shell called “cashmere beige” (Canon has yet to adopt a darker coloring scheme as most of its competitors have)
- Units have “soft rounded corners” called the “Round Square” design
- Back of copier is now covered and called “omni-directional design”
- Uses recycled plastic in coverings
- Uses 8.4” color LCD touch screen on some models that pulls out, and then tilts downward for Section 508 compliancy.
- Other models use a 10.4” color LCD touch screen on an armature (PRO series only)
- Background of the LCD display can be changed by customer to fit personal preference
- Paper drawers have sensor to detect paper size
- End user must push a button to open paper drawers
- Has Advanced Smoothing Technology (AST) and Super Smoothing Technology (SST) to improve color letters and lines
- Uses fuser belt heated by ceramic element in the fuser section, rather than traditional fuser lamp heating
- Uses “pQ” toner, same pulverized toner technology used in imagePRESS C7000VP
- Document feeder can scan up to 120ppm, and be loaded with up to 300 originals in the C7065 model
- When using the duplex mode, the document feeder can scan both sides of original at same time, at 140ipm top speed full color (70 originals per minute)
- With the C5051 model, top speed when using duplex scan is 100ipm, (50 originals/minute)
- To the left of the LCD control panel, optional IC card reader takes SD memory cards and memory stick media, infrared (IrDA) or cell phone via email text
- When using OCR option, can scan right to MS PowerPoint format or searchable PDF
- Optional hard drive data encryption kit
- Optional Universal Send Expansion Kit for scan to email/LDAP
- Optional PDF Encryption kit
- Optional Web Brower kit
- Optional single or dual line fax boards
- Standard generic print controller offers PCL print driver standard, and Adobe PostScript is an option
- Models from 30ppm to 50ppm, do NOT offer toner on the fly replacement (IR-ADV C5030, C5035, C5045, C5051)
- IR-ADV C7065 and C7055 offer on the fly toner replacement

Note from Art: TBA, waiting to hear from you, anything we missed?

-=Good Selling=-

This Week in Ricoh "TWIR Notes"

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

- In an effort to increase sales, a Canon & Ricoh dealer in England, named ABT Office Supplies, announced that it will now sell its copiers at cost. The only catch is that customer must sign up for a minimum annual service/supply contract. (wonder what Canon and Ricoh think about one of their dealers revealing what wholesale cost is…….)

- Ricoh reported that during the last quarter, its net profit declined 89.5%

- Ricoh announced its IKON division sold a Ricoh Aficio PRO C900 production color system to Alphagraphics of Fort Worth, Texas.

- According to some industry authors, Ricoh is planning on launch a replacement for the C900 in summer of 2010 that will NOT use fuser oil, and use polymerized toner instead of pulverized toner. Also supposedly in the works is a 120ppm color unit.

- Ricoh is touting the fact that its Aficio PRO C900 production color system won a “5 Star” award from Business Equipment Research & Testing Labs (BERTL)

- IKON, a division of Ricoh, announced it won a bid to provide scanning services for the Pittsburg County Assessors office. The winning bid was $16,950 to scan 226,000 documents.

-=Good Selling=-

Is selling at cost the future for print hardware?

This was the title of a recent blog/article I found on Print4Pay Hotel Message Board to see what everyones response would be. Here's the article:

Deptford reseller ABT Office Supplies has started offloading its Ricoh and Canon multi-function devices (MFDs) at cost price, subject to a delivery charge and service agreement sign-on.

The dealer claims the move is to save the cost of printing for businesses by encouraging a switch to MFDs rather than stand-alone printers, copiers and fax machines.

“A recent study has shown that few companies have any true understanding of just how much they are spending on photocopying and printing,” the company said in a statement released to the press this morning.

“For most organisations, printing is typically the third highest expense behind rent and payroll, yet research shows that replacing the traditional photocopier with a new MFD can reduce printing costs by over 50 per cent. Such a decision will save even relatively small companies many thousands of pounds each year.”

ABT, founded in 1997, is advertised as a low-price supplier of new office equipment. However, it said this was the first time it had offered MFDs at cost.

Replies from Print4Pay Hotel members:

Larry from Oxnard replied with:

"I think this is hilarious. When all else fails within your business model turn to being the low price leader. What ever happened to selling value. I thought business were in business to profit. I would be curious if they stole their current business model from RBS. Being the low price leader will get you somewhere for segment 1/2 but you sure are not going to be a very healthy & profitable company long term."

Jason from Tennessee replied with:

"Hrmm, well, sure they are.

Notice it doesn't say anything about Service or Supplies, we can assume those are either at their normal rate or slightly elevated.

It doesn't say anything about lowering the lease rate on this MFD you are buying at "cost" either, so we can assume those are also either at normal or slightly elevated.

If we also assume that their sales will increase by X amount due to the promotion, the only loss they could expect from this is if X amount of additional revenue doesn't cover the profit from the previous selling price of the MFD.

Since they were a "Low-price" seller before, the amount they have to make up in this scenario is probably minimal."

5050 from Pittsburgh replied with:

"Without a value statement that goes beyond copiers and even mps at this point --- people will be selling at cost, because they are transient, non-professional, and either don't have or have confidence in their skill set.

The Trick is to work with companies that aren't in the market to buy copiers---I guarantee that their are other challenges that they are facing and trying to overcome...When you do this you can sell at retail, because there is no competition and you earned that commission.

Why sell just to sell? That's stupid. I don't know anyone who got into sales to sell something. I got into sales to make money!"

Merlin from New York replied with:

"There were many questions I had, but the real question is define cost? Does cost includes overhead , sales commissions, taxes,dealer salaries,gas, lights, heat. You know all the expenses that's goes into running a company.

That is cost. Not want the dealer accuracy pay for the equipment."

lep524 from Ontario replied with:

"Interesting approach to the sales process. Strikes me the next promo is for 10% below sticker price...of course unlike cars, manufacturers don't put a sticker price on MFP's to advise the public what the price is supposed to be. At this point we find the margin we are able to obtain on most sales of hardware barely covers the cost of sales for the product...any business profits come from services bundled around the hardware, either connectivity plans, support plans, supplies for colour etc. Many large HP dealers have been going under cost price on bigger deals for years...one of the reasons for not selling HP for many dealers. The big HP players count on the rebates for volume to give them a return on the sale.

Pricing models vary by client size, region and brand...but in the end you have to make a profit on your install base to stay in business and to provide a good level of support...good clients understand this and value your efforts...poorer clients will milk you for every cent they can get. Our task is to find more of the former and fewer of the latter."

Note from Art: These were just a few of the threads that were posted by Print4Pay Hotel members, to read the rest of these click on the P4P Hotel link and become a member of the largest group of MFP, MFD, Copier Professionals in the World.. Go ahead it's FREE!!

-=Good Selling=-

Copier Sales "New RFP's Uploaded to Print4Pay Hotel"

I've posted some new information that's been posted on the Print4Pay Hotel Message Forums.

New RFP's For You!

6 MFP's RFP "Due 11/19/09"

32 or more MFP's RFP "Due ??"

70+ MFP's RFP! This HOt!

90 ppm MFP RFP "Due 11/6/09"

W--COPIER/PRINTER LEASING SERVICES FOR THE MIDDLE EAST DISTRICT USACE

12 MFP's RFP "Due 11/2/09"

All of these for you! Keep in mind that you need to be a member to view the Print4Pay Hotel message boards. Become a member of the largest group of copier professionals in the world!!

-=Good Selling=-

Take The I'll Vote For Chris Daggett Pledge

Take The I'll Vote For Chris Daggett Pledge

Connect With Print Audit On The Web In Three New Ways

The leading print management company has launched a redesigned website, a Facebook page and a Twitter account to keep customers connected and informed

CALGARY, ALBERTA (October 29, 2009) – Excellent communication is key to any successful business, and the ways in which we communicate have evolved considerably over the past few years. In order to better connect with their business partners and customers, Print Audit has expanded its presence on the web by unveiling a new website, a Facebook page and a Twitter feed.

The redesigned Print Audit website, located at www.printaudit.com, features a new user-friendly layout as well as several new features including how-to videos and an ROI calculator that demonstrates Print Audit 6’s potential cost and environmental savings. To benefit office equipment dealers, Print Audit has also added a dealer portal that offers a variety of tools that enable dealers both to increase revenue in current accounts and to sell more hardware, supplies and services. In addition, new industry specific web pages allow businesses to find solutions that will meet the specific needs of their organization.

“We have designed our new website so that it is easier to navigate and we have added a number of tools that will make it easier for companies to get started with print management,” said John MacInnes, President and CEO of Print Audit. “At the same time, our new social media presence will allow our customers and dealers to stay informed with up-to-the-minute news about our company and products.”

On Facebook and Twitter, Print Audit will share product updates, industry news, tutorial videos, upcoming events, achievements and job listings.

Print Audit will also run regular contests on Facebook, starting with a November contest to refer their friends to become fans of the company’s page. The first person to successfully refer 15 fans will receive a $50 gift certificate to Starbucks Coffee Co. For more information about the contest or to become a fan of Print Audit on Facebook, please visit http://www.printaudit.com/facebook.

To follow Print Audit on Twitter, please visit http://www.twitter.com/printaudit.


About Print Audit
Established in 1999 and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Print Audit is the fastest growing print management company in the world. By providing businesses with innovative and practical print management software solutions, the company has helped customers recapture over $150 million in printing and photocopying expenses while saving an estimated 190,000 trees a year. Print Audit has offices located in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada and the United States.

For more information on Print Audit, please contact:

Angela Onstine
1.877.412.8348
pr@printaudit.com
www.printaudit.com

Outside of North America, please contact:

Print Audit - Europe
+44(0)1483 726206
www.printauditeurope.com
inquiry@printauditeurope.com

Print Audit - Australasia
+612 9922-3756
http://www.printauditaustralasia.com


Print Audit - South Africa
+086 110 5777 (Within South Africa)
+27 11 531 1869 (Outside South Africa)
www.printauditsa.com
info@printauditsa.com

Print Audit – America Latina
+55(21)2220 0939
www.printaudit.com.br
Informações em Português:
suporte@printaudit.com.br
Informaciones en Español:
espanol@printaudit.com.br

-=Good Selling=-

RISO ComColor is a "Rising Star"

I was up at 4AM today to take a 3 hour ride to Corporate in the pouring rain today! Most times I would dread the ride, especially since sleeping the night before is impossible when you know you've gotta be up so early! However this ride was a little easier to take since I would be taking a look at the new Riso ComCOLOR devices! WHOA!!

When I first heard about this product I was not impressed and thought there's no need for a system like the comCOLOR.

A few months ago, I took some weekend time to learn more about the RISO comColor devices, such as speeds, feeds, technology, quality and what it can and can't do.

About three weeks ago, I had an appointment for an existing account, while I was with the account, they explained that they have a direct mail business and were having problems with a current Pitney Bowes mail system and their current printers the WP50's were slow and they needed to ramp up mailings. I probed and probed as much as I could about how they print, what they print, how many and uncovered the problems. While doing this I uncovered the fact that this client was purchasing 250,000 pre printed color envelopes per month and was paying around .13 cents per envelope. Ah, yes the wheels started to turn, the brain started to smoke, and there it was, a solution that would save the customer thousands of dollars per month!!!!

I want to keep this short, however the customer also wanted to make some other changes like adding spot color, and or full color when needed, but most of the time black was going to be the ticket. But they needed speed!!!

ComColor to the rescue!!

The solution was to add two comcolor devices that will print in black or full color at 120 pages per minute (they can also print in tandem at 240ppm), capable of variable data, and capable of handling the print stream from the PB mail server. The cost per page for black was .0056 and the cost for full color was .026 (consumables). But the savings, where was the client going to save?? We suggested pressure seal paper for those not familiar with pressure seal paper go here. With maximum discount we were able to price of pressure seal paper at .03 per sheet (legal), and then suggested that one panel be used for the outbound postal indicia and the another panel for the inbound postal indicia. The other panels would be used to print the data and the message for the direct mailer. Did you see the savings yet? The customer was able to stop buying a quarter of a million envelopes per month to the tune of $32,500 per month!!!

The end result is the customer could do every mailer in full color and still save .07 cents per piece or a cool $17,500 per month and have his investment paid off in 6-8 months!!!

What's the moral of this story, do your research on products, keep your eyes and ears open, and you'll find cool solutions like this that will help drive business.

BTW, the client loved the quality for his direct mailers!! Every direct mail company should have one of these!

-=Good Selling=-

MFP Weekend Indsutry Notes from 10/27/09

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

Xerox now shipping 4 new mid-range color MFPs, the WorkCentre 7425, 7428, 7435 offering:
- replaces the 7325, 7335, 7345 & 7346
- actually made by Fuji of Japan
- 4 tandem OPC drum design
- Polymerized toner, called Xerox Emulsion Aggregate (EA)
- 7425 offers 20ppm color and 25ppm b/w
- 7428 offers 28ppm b/w or color
- 7435 offers 35ppm b/w or color
- optional fax board (only 400dpi)
- first copy out time as fast as 5 seconds for b/w, 6.4 seconds for color
- Duty cycles of 60K/mo, 80K/mo & 105K/mo respectively
- Base MSRPs of $10,499, $11,599 & $13,499 respectively
- Scanning is OPTIONAL and does not come standard with print controller
- 75 sheet document feeder
- Maximum scan speed of 54opm
- 1200x1200dpi (interpolated to 2400dpi)(2/4 selectable bit depth)
- 600x600dpi when copying or scanning
- Built-in print controller offers 667MHz processor
- PCL & PS print drivers come standard
- 1.5GB RAM and only a 40GB hard drive
- Comes standard with bypass and only one paper drawer
- Up to 256gsm paper handling in bypass or drawers
- Up to 12”x18” paper in bypass
- Maximum paper capacity with options of 5,140 sheets
- Can replace drawer 1 with a 60 envelope feeder
- auto duplex standard
- Optional Bates stamping
- 30 second warmup time from sleep mode (longer if turned off)
- gloss mode
- Optional EIP for embedded applications
- Optional SD card reader (print from digital camera memory sticks)
- Optional scan to searchable PDF (OCR board)
- Optional USB port for scan/print from thumb drive
- Optional thumbnail preview for jobs on hard drive
- Optional EFI Fiery print server with 1.86GHz processor and 80GB hard drive
- Optional internal stapling finisher
- Optional external finisher with stapling, hole-punching & booklet making

- Hewlett Packard launched three new laser MFPs available exclusively for its PartnerONE dealers:
- LaserJet M9059 is a 50ppm, b/w A3 unit, based on existing M9050.
- LaserJet M4349x is a 45ppm, b/w A4 unit, based on existing M4345
- Color LaserJet CM6049f is a 40ppm, color A3 unit, based on existing CM6040f
- All are actually made by Canon
- The only difference of the new models, versus the units that they are based on, is that they have toner cartridges that are keyed, so end users have to buy the toners from the HP PartnerONE dealer, and not on-line, or in a superstore

- Hewlett Packard announced that is sold an Indigo 7000 production color system to DS Graphics, a print for pay.

- According to Computer Resellers News magazine, Hewlett Packard took the #1 spot from Xerox in desktop color laser printer sales in the U.S. Details:
- HP was in sixth place last year
- Xerox was number 2, and Lexmark was number 3

- Hewlett Packard launched BookPred, a service that will allow users to purchase printed copies of scanned pages of a book. It also launched MagClould, allowing anyone to publish their own magazine, and printing it at a print-for-pay location near to where the reader ordered the issue. All work will be sent to printshops that own HP Indigo systems.

- More details on the new alliance between Canon and Hewlett Packard:
- HP will begin advertising Canon copiers on its website on 11/1/09
- HP will resell imageRUNNER, imageRUNNER ADVANCE, and imageRUNNER ADVANCE PRO series
- Speed range from 23ppm to 105ppm devices
- According to Larry Trevarthen, HP’s Worldwide Director of Market Development,
HP also has access to the imagePRESS production print products
- All the devices will initially carry the Canon name
- The products will be identical to what Canon dealers sell, including supplies
- Service will be provided by a Canon factory direct branch primarily. Only if there is no Canon branch in the area, will the service contract be offered to a Canon dealer.
- Canon currently has 60 factory branch locations, but will expand to 90 locations within 2 years
- HP will support Canon copiers with its Web JetAdmin utility
- HP will also modify its Universal Print Driver to support Canon copiers
- Starting in early 2010, HP will begin to develop its own print controllers for the Canon copiers

- Lexmark announced a new program for copier dealers:
- Has created a line of 15 models that will not be sold on-line or through retailers
- These “XS” models will only be available through copier dealers
- 5 are A4 b/w MFPs, 3 are A3 b/w MFPs, 2 are A4 color MFPs, 2 are A3 color MFPs, 2 are A4 b/w printer, and 1 is A4 color printer.
- Speeds range from 35 to 55ppm
- All have a published MSRP, but not a published street price
- All have large touch screen LCD display
- Offer eTask software for embedded application ability
- Have high yield cartridges so they are ideal for managed print services contracts
- Lexmark claims it has signed up 150 dealers in the U.S. so far, and hopes to have
300 total in next few years
- Typical opening order is $12K to $30K to become authorized
- Product is actually ordered from Tech Data or Synnex, instead of directly from Lexmark
- Will have it first dealer meeting in Kentucky

- Lexmark announced results of its last quarter’s financials:
- Will let go of 825 employees to cut costs
- Still employs 3000 in its Lexington, Kentucky facility
- Total revenue fell 15% to $958 million
- Laser unit shipments declined 22%
- Total hardware revenue down 24%
- Supplies revenue down 12%
- Net income down 73%
- cash on hand of $900 million
- Service revenue (including MPS) down 14% to $654 million
- gross profit margin up to 32.7%
- total long term debt of $648.7 million
- total liabilities of $2.45 billion

- According to Lexmark:
- 44% of their revenue is from inkjet, and 56% from laser
- Average employee generates 10,000 pages per year
- Each filed or stored document is printed 19 times
- 20% of print pages are lost
- In 2000, there were 60 trillion pages printed
- In 2012, there will only be 55 trillion pages printed
- 98% of page printed come from an A4 device
- 80% of all print jobs are 3 pages or less

- Lexmark still fighting a company that makes generic cartridges for Lexmark printers. Static Control Components Inc. is appealing a ruling in the Sixth Circuit U.S. District Court, which allowed Lexmark to shut down Static Control.

- Lasercare, a dealer in Los Angeles, CA that services HP, Xerox, Lexmark and other brands, claims it has fixed its 100,000th printer, since it was founded 22 years ago.

- Toshiba announced it will borrow $90 million from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to complete the new nuclear engine plant in Chennai.

- Toshiba gave out its “Top Achievement” awards to the following dealers for outstanding service:
- Atlantic Tomorrow’s Office
- Copy Products Inc.
- Stargel Office Solutions

- A company is suing leading research firm, Gartner, over the accuracy of its Magic Quadrant reports. ZL Technologies, maker of email search/archive software, is claiming that it was unfairly ranked low in comparison to its competitor, Symantec. The case will be heard in the 9th US District Court in San Jose, CA.

- Gartner announced that it forecasts an increase in tech spending globally by 3.3% to $3.3 trillion in 2010. However, it claims that tech spending will not return to pre 2008 levels until 2012. This year experienced a 16.5% drop it IT hardware spending according to the research firm.

- Photizo Group, which offered consulting and training to dealers for managed print services programs, announced it has opened up its fifth office, this time in London, England. It also has offices in Boston, New York, Austin and Kentucky.

- Equitrac announced it is shipping version 4.0 of Equitrac Office, featuring:
- print management system for corporate enterprises
- improves security of confidential documents
- network based authorization, authentication and accounting
- enhanced reporting of media usage
- end user popup notifications including hyperlinks
- web-based Release Station allowing print jobs to be released using web browser
- Follow-You Printing now allows Xerox and Sharp copiers to have embedded application to over-ride printing rules and print color instead of b/w
- Supports Apple Remote Desktop

- Ricoh’s complaint seeking to bar Okidata from selling any more printers and MFPs in the U.S. won review by U.S. trade officials. The U.S. International Trade Commission said it would investigate the charge that Okidata is violating Ricoh patents.

- Sharp gave out more details on its recent dealer meeting in Washington DC:
- Total US revenue was down 3%
- Has self-financed leases on a few major account deals, but has no plans to open up
its own leasing company
- Has a total of 440 dealers in the U.S.
- Is adding 20-40 new dealers per year, but also losing about half that many per year
- Has 10 factory direct branch operations from 13 acquisitions
- Has temporarily halted acquisitions, until economy improves, but still hopes to have 25 locations total in next few years
- Goal is for branches to account for 45% of sales in U.S.
- 4 of its 10 largest dealers are Global dealers (owned by Xerox)
- While it launched the Frontier series of A4 MFPs last year, it only has sold a total of 7000 units
- Healthcare vertical market is where most A4s are sold, accounting for 14% of units sold
- Only 310 of its 440 dealers are selling the Frontier A4 models
- In 2005, the total number of 31ppm+ A3 units was 479,431, and in 2008 was 563,309
- In 2005, the total number of 31ppm+ A4 units was 21,779, and in 2008 was 116,536
- Now has 135 technology partners for its OSA embedded solutions offering
- Now offering Front Panel, or ability for end user to customize the copier LCD display
- My Sharp Digital Signage, allows end users to run an announcement on the LCD display
- Future models will come standard with OSA, rather than current option for $349
- Will replace the existing AR-M207 20ppm b/w copier with the MX-200D, also 20ppm
- Will replace the AR-M257 and AR-M317 models in 2010 with ones with new design to match rest of product line
- Will replace the MX-M620 and MX-M700 models with models that also incorporate new look, and will also have pull out keyboards, and 150 sheet document feeder that scans both sides of
original at same time

- Konica Minolta announced it has opened up a new factory direct branch in Sydney, Australia. Details:
- located in Macquarie Park
- tall, multi-story glass building
- includes offices, showroom and warehouse in one facility
- surrounded by 200 native trees
- on first floor in front of building is large showroom, which has carpeting with a CMYK pattern stitched in to accent the new mid-range color and production color systems
- building also includes training facilities for technicians and end users
- an on-site café is also inside for use by guests and employees
- person in charge of facility is David Cooke, Executive General Manager of the branch

- Kyocera announced a new embedded solution for its HYPAS equipped MFPs. The new Capture2go allows end users who have an Apple iPhone to scan to the phone, or print from the phone to Kyocera MFPs.

- PrintAudit, of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, announced that its managed print services software is now compatible with Macintosh computers.

- IBM executive charged with insider trading. Robert Moffat, a 31 year IBM veteran and confidant to IBM CEO Sam Palmisano, allegedly conspired to commit securities fraud. He was arrested by the FBI, which believes he netted $20 million in illegal profits.

- Samung of Korea announced it will spend $2.3 billion to build a color LCD manufacturing plant in China, set to open in 2011.

- Current and former Kodak employees have asked a federal judge for final approval of a $4 million settlement that would resolve a long running class action lawsuit accusing Kodak of failing to properly compensate its employees.

- Oce’ announced it will resell eCopy solutions to go with its relabeled Toshiba and Konica Minolta MFP offerings.

-=Good Selling=-

This Week in Canon "TWIC Notes"

Gathered from Print4Pay Hotel Members from around the world and a few moles in very good places!

Canon announced it has purchased Document House, a $6.7 million Xerox/HP dealer in Scandinavia. It will now offer Canon and HP products only.

- Canon announced a change for the generic print controllers it sells for its printers and MFPs. Instead of offering standard a PostScript print driver from Zoran, it will now charge end users $1400 for a PostScript driver from Adobe. (or a customer can buy an EFI Fiery if offered)

- Canon stated that since Ricoh bought IKON, it has signed up only 23 new dealers in the U.S.

- When Canon launched the new imageRUNNER ADVANCE series, Canon highlighted its copier history:
- 1970 – first copier, the NP-1100
- 1984 – first digital copier, the NP-9030, a 30ppm b/w device, but did not connect
- 1987 – first digital color copier, the CLC-1, did not initially connect
- 1989 – launched the CLC-500, became the best selling color copier of its day
- 1992 – launched the GP55, offering digital b/w unit with fax/copy/print/scan

- Canon announced it will spend $220 million to launch its own managed print services effort, with goal of gaining $1.1 billion in annual revenue by 2012.

- Canon announced another partner for its MEAP embedded solutions, this time GBCblue which it offering the COPYblue solution:
- converts Canon imageRUNNER MFP into a self-service kiosk
- MFP acts as an interface to access a back-end transaction server managed by GBCblue
- Developed for public environments such as convention centers, libraries, hotels and airports
- User is prompted through the touch screen LCD on copier
- Accepts all major credit cards

-=Good Selling=-