Who's Afraid of Memjet "Part Duex"

This past weekend I was at the BTA Winter Break in Orlando.  While the education sessions are awesome I especially enjoy meeting with the 30 plus vendors being able to see what's new and different.

Back in June of 2009 I penned "Who's Afraid of Memjet".  Last year there were major announcements from Drupa from the likes of Toshiba, Fuji/Xerox, and Canon/Oce that all of them had purchased a license to incorporate the Memjets Waterfall print head technology. Toshiba to use it in MFP's, Canon/Oce developed a device called "Project Velocity" for an Oce branded wide format and then Fuji/Xerox will integrate the Memjet Water print head technology for wide format also. It was interesting that one of the comments on the blog was "this can't be good news for KIP".

While at the BTA Winter Break event I was able see the new Memjet C6010 printer.  What I saw was stunning, amazing and a marvel of color ink technology.  Sixty pages per minute, or 1 page per second of 100% coverage on letter size paper (this puppy can also print legal) with full bleed!! As soon as the print exited the printer the ink was dry, no jams, no bands in the color.  I saw prints that were done with coated inkjet paper (stunning) and also bond paper (typical matt type image).  I was more impressed though with the high capacity ink, black will hold 100ml, while the CMY will hold 50ml each.  Base on "normal office printing" the black ink will yield 4,600 pages, cyan is good for 7,500 pages, yellow cranks in at 5,050 pages and magenta trails with 4,830 pages.

I did ask the retail price on this system, however I forgot (arrgghh), but I was told that we'll see a memjet MFP in the 2nd quarter of this year.  Cost per page, and ink is the life blood of profit for Dealers and Memjet was keen to inform me that the ink tanks are designed for authorized refill.

My Thoughts

WOW! The first practical market I thought of was real estate offices, this system would be perfect for printing four color perforated post cards. While the C6010 only has a simple mode, users could print duplex by reinserting the print back into the paper tray. Think about 4 color, using a high gloss ink jet paper for short run post cards, for print on demand.  Key, is the awesome speed of 60 pages per minute, how much would they pay for a color printer that printed at 60 pages per minute?

Cost per page, I'm waiting on the exact numbers for the cost per page. If the ink cost is what I think I heard then this can be the driving factor for businesses to get back to inkjet based systems because the cost per page will be less than all color  laser and LED based printers, plus you don't have the hassle with purchasing all of the supply and assorted maintenance kits that can drive customers up a wall!

I'm sure as more Memjet products are brought to market by the likes of Memjet, Canon/Oce, Toshiba and Fuji/Xerox that Memjet technology will be the preferred imaging solutions of the future.  Geesh, what will happen to the likes of Ricoh, Sharp, Kyocera, and KIP?

As RickyBobby pointed out in Talladega Nights "if you're not first you're last", then I see non licensee's such as Ricoh, Sharp, Kyocera and KIP being last.

What I'd Like to See

I'd like to see auto duplex (two sided printing), the option to add additional paper trays, adjustable paper trays for envelopes and post cards, and a tiered billing software similar to Kyocera and Xerox, this would allow the MFP or MPS dealer to bill for ink by page coverage.  Once this happens it would be off to the races. I would see the Memjet C6010 as the ultimate utility printer, meaning we would give these away for free and just capture the billing for the clicks.  I know sounds messed up, however it will be the wave or you could say "waterfall" of the future.

Links

Memjet C6010 Brochure
Memjet C6010 Users Manual
Memjet C6010 Support & Drivers

Memjet is looking for dealers that have a service department. Get in while you can!!

-=Good Selling=-