Sharp jp Update less than 48 hours for 2012 financials

On May 14th, Sharp will release their financials for 2012 and unveil a business plan that will define how Sharp will kick start and improve it's finances. So what I've compiled below is some recent quotes about Sharp that I gather from many different sources:

Bad News Notes about Sharp for the past two weeks included:

"Japan's leading maker of liquid crystal displays had a 500 billion yen ($5.1 billion) net loss for the year, worse than the 450 billion yen deficit it forecast in November, the sources said on condition that they not be identified."

"In addition to the write-offs, the company is also taking a charge to put aside cash for possible fines from a display price-fixing investigation in Europe, the sources said."

"The write-off of excess capacity, however, highlights softer demand from Apple, which has seen its profit growth slow dramatically from more than 60 percent over the past five years to a projected rate of less than 5 percent for the next decade."

"but more fundamental problems remain. Sharp likely earned an operating profit in the second half of fiscal 2012 as requested by its main banks. Still, the impairment losses on LCD production facilities and other factors probably widened consolidated losses for the fiscal year beyond the projected Y450 billion."

"Sharp is in desperate need of cash, prompting it to accept a lifeline from rival Samsung. In March, Sharp raised Y10 billion from a new share issuance to Samsung, giving it about a 3% stake in Sharp. Sharp said in a statement the report wasn't based on anything it had announced."

"Sharp, which at the start of the year was forced to curtail production of 9.7-inch screens for Apple's iPad, began limited panel fabrication for Apple's next iPhone, with mass production slated to start in June, the sources said."

Good News Notes about Sharp for the past two weeks included:

"Its operating profit for the second half of its business year was 20 billion yen, compared with the company's forecast for 13.8 billion yen, the sources added."

"In addition, the two lenders have decided to give Sharp an extension on a total of Y360 billion in lending that matures in June. With the new facility, credit extended to Sharp by the two main banks, which stood at about Y200 billion as of March 31 last year, is expected to rise to around Y800 billion."

"Sharp Corp. aims to expand its business tie-up with Samsung Electronics Co. beyond liquid crystal displays, and is considering seeking an additional capital injection from the South Korean electronics conglomerate, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported in its Thursday morning edition.

"Under a three-year business plan scheduled to be released May 14, Sharp will likely include plan to expand its ties in areas such as copiers." 

"The number of Sharp directors will be reduced from 12 to six, and the company’s payroll will have significantly fewer advisers who previously served as presidents or vice presidents, according to the plan for the three-year period ending March 2016. Sharp is expected to release the plan on May 14."

"Sharp Corp. will cut 5,000 jobs, slash the number of directors and advisory positions and shift its production focus under a three-year plan to fully recover from the 2008 global financial crisis."

My View:  All of these statements were from various reports that were posted over the last two weeks. There seems to be as much good as bad about Sharp.  Which could be a good thing.  While I was at the Transform Even this week in Phoenix, I was told by a good source that the deal with Sharp and Samsung was nixed not by Sharp but by some ministry of business. I guess that may have to do with the whole Korean/Japanese culture? However in a recent report from I picked up it was stated that "Sharp will likely include a plan to extend ties in areas such as copiers". This was posted in a reference to "Sharp aims to strengthen tie-up with Samsung", which contradicts what I heard from a "good source".

I'm no genius, I just try to read all of the reports to see what may or may not happen with Sharps Imaging Division.  Here at home I can see what will happen with the page volumes and also understand that there are too many players and our industry needs to contract to protect margins.  In reading most of these reports, only once was there any mention of Sharps Imaging Division. For now Sharp seems to be concentrated on displays, appliances and smart phones.  I guess we'll have a better picture in a couple of days.

PS

"Samsung sees the copier business as having the potential to succeed its mainstay smartphone business, which could slow down amid fierce global competition".
 

-=Good Selling=-

MFP Solutions Top Ten Copier & MFP Blogs for March 2013

Spring comes to the Northeast, finally!  Over the long weekend I found myself thinking about a potential sale, my prospect sent me an email on Friday (day off for me) and advised that he was in the market for a high end color system and would be making a decision ASAP, probably in a few days.

I've got competition from two major players and the last time we did this I lost out on the high end black system.  Friday night saw me exchanging emails, doing a side by side comparison and tonight I'll be preparing my numbers and pay them a visit in the AM.  Just goes to show you that you never know what tomorrow will bring and our job is not a 9-5 effort.

10 Awesome Tips for a Great MFP/Copier Demo	856
New Copiers from KonicaMinolta with Advertisements...	451
Death of "The 60 Month Copier/MFP Lease"	450
A Unique MFP Proposal with the Help of Ben Frankli...	389
Sharp jp Update "Fiscal End of Year Fast Approachi...	330
How to Add More Selling Days without Really Trying...	310
10 Ways to Increase Your Copier and MFP Sales	300
Sharp "What Will Happen" Part Two	260
The Emergence of Utility Printers?	243
Sharp to Sell it's Imaging Division or Not to Sell...	228

WTF is a Copier Lease Forgiveness?

This week I was handed a quote from one of your reps in the office.  The system that was quoted was a Sharp MX-264N and the proposal in my eyes was weak at best.  The proposal addressed speeds, feeds, pricing and of course those meaning full laundry list of features such as scan2email, scan2folder and network printing.  Don't all of the MFPs have these as standard features now, the point I'm trying to make that in this proposal there was nothing that made the dealership, or the system stand out from all of the other proposal. 

The most I got out of this quote was this "Network printing utilizing PCL print board for fast efficient printing",  WTF!!!

The best line of the quote however was this "Includes Lease forgiveness of current lease and shipping unit back to leasing Co".  Buyer Beware right!!

If you're an end user reading this blog, if you ever see the above line I beg you to through out the proposal and the sales person and here's why.  First, there is no such thing as a Lease Forgiveness and if there was you would only be able to get that from the leasing company that you leased the equipment from and not the Dealer or Direct Branch.  If you think that the remaining payments are going to

Top Ten Copier and MFP Proposals for March 2013

At least for me the first Quarter of 2013 has come to a close. Business was good, over 100% for the quarter and almost logged 200% for March, however April business seems like it might be marginal at best.  You know a lot of reps will say to themselves whoa is me, it's going to stink, I have nothing in the pipeline. While others realize it's time to pick up their game so they can work towards another solid month.  Which one are you?  I hope that from reading this blog that you are one of those that makes things happen!


Each month on the Print4Pay Hotel forums we'll upload "Pricing on the Street" quotes, these quotes are certified as accurate since the pricing information is emailed to us from other Print4Pay Hotel members in the field.

We'll also receive and upload quotes and proposals from other Print4Pay Hotel members and these quotes will be "the proposal or quote" that was emailed to the end user.

Each month I'll list those proposals/quotes and "Pricing on the Street" here with the associated links.  You need to be a Premium Member in order to download the documents.  So without further ado here's the top quotes from March 2013.  Enjoy!

• MFP/MPS Assessment
• Sharp MX-B402SC
• Ricoh MP 3352 Pricing on the Street - Feedback please
• "Pricing on the Street" Ricoh W3601
• "Pricing on the Street" Ricoh W5100en
• "Pricing on the Street" Ricoh MP3352SP (4 units)
• Sharp MX-264N "Pricing on the Street"
• Xerox WC 5755PT "Pricing on the Street"
• Ricoh MPC2551 "Pricing on the Street"
• Canon C6255 "Pricing on the Street"

-=Good Selling=-

Sharp "What Will Happen" Part Two

On the Print4Pay Hotel forums we've had an ongoing poll titled "Sharp What Will Happen". We posed this question to our members:

Pretty cut and dry, do you think they will sell the MFP division to stay afloat?  

The end of the fiscal year for Sharp Japan is right around the corner, sometime in the next few weeks we'll see the earnings potential for Sharp.

Some Print4Pay Hotel members have speculated that if a deal is going to cut with Samsung for the copier division that it may happen before the end of the 2012 fiscal year which is March 31st, 2013.

In the last week Sharp had missed the deadline to receive the additional monies from Qualcom, I find it amazing that for months all we new about this deal is that Qualcom had bought  a 2.65 percent stake in Sharp. Not until last week did we find out that Sharp had missed a March 29th deadline to complete a plan to begin fabricating power-saving screens.  Thus Sharp missed out on the final $60 million payment.  I'm thinking that was pretty painful. In a recent bit of news it was reported that Sharp will now receive the other $60 million some time in late June of 2013.

Seems most of us were not aware of this T & C with Qualcom and Sharp, and I'm now wondering if there were also some other  T & C's that were built into the Samsung buy in also?

So much for the recent updates with Sharp:

Here's how are Print4Pay Hotel members voted:

59% voted YES "That Sharp will sell the MFP Division"
41% voted No   

In politics some would argue that 59% - 41% is a landslide. Stay tuned I'm sure we'll here much more in the coming weeks.  BTW if you'd like to cast your vote please follow this link if you're a Print4Pay Hotel member VOTE HERE and if you're not a member then Register Here (It's Free) and then place your vote.

-=Good Selling=-

Sharp to Sell it's Imaging Division or Not to Sell it's Imaging Division

I was not planning on writing on blog tonight, however with the recent news from last night that Sharp (Japan) has rejected a proposal from Samsung to buy Sharps Imaging Division (FYI, all of our Print4Pay Hotel members were notified last via email).  There's already been 12 threads in reference to the proposal. 

For months and months we've been hearing the hype from Sharp USA that the Imaging Division will not be sold, matter fact there so much hype out there that many pundits were starting to drink the Koolaid that Sharp USA was dishing out. 

In fact recent months have been better for Sharp (Japan), I mentioned this in an earlier blog.  As I told a few Print4Pay Hotel members today, why would I bother presenting a proposal to someone if they were not in the market or willing to listen?

It's obvious that Samsung and Sharp were talking due to the fact that Samsung engaged with Sharp for a 3% stake in the company.  What we don't know is if the original proposal to Sharp included the offer to buy the Imaging Division, or this was something that was done after the investment by Samsung.  We also don't know why the proposal was rejected, was it not enough money, did the Japanese banks squash the deal, is Sharp still reluctant to sell one of money making divisions, or are they holding out for a better offer or maybe there's a better offer on the table from someone else?

Today, I received this headline "Sharp May Sell Copier Operations to Samsung", whoa, now this is a complete turn around from what I heard last night, and this report came from the Sankei Shimbun.

At this point in time, I'm leaving for my trip. I hope that Sharp & Samsung will work something before I get back.

BTW, here's the link to see what our members have been posting.

-=Good Selling=-

Sharp jp Update "Fiscal End of Year Fast Approaching"

I figured it was time for another update with Sharp jp,  since the end of the fiscal year for Sharp jp is March 31st.  There were two stories this week from Reuters.

Recently I've read a few articles from the likes of  a few industry pundits and both have downplayed the Sharp debt crisis. I know that both of these industry pundits have a financial connection with Sharp, so instead of trying to make sense of those articles I'll read as many stories as I can from news sources that don't have any skin in the game.

Even though some of the reports from Sharp have been better as of late. The recent money from Samsung and Qualcomm which total 230 million dollars is chump change when compared to the $2.1 billion convertible bond that is due in September of 2013.

In 45 days or so we should have a better handle as where the

Top Ten Copier and MFP Proposals for January 2013

Nothing stunning this month from the proposals that were uploaded to the Print4Pay Hotel forums last month. What I am seeing though is a slight rise in cost per page in down the street business. We'll have to see if this is a new normal.

Each month on the Print4Pay Hotel forums we'll upload "Pricing on the Street" quotes, these quotes are certified as accurate since the pricing information is emailed to us from other Print4Pay Hotel members in the field.

We'll also receive and upload quotes and proposals from other Print4Pay Hotel members and these quotes will be "the proposal or quote" that was emailed to the end user.

Each month I'll list those proposals/quotes and "Pricing on the Street" here with the associated links.  You need to be a Premium Member in order to download the documents.  So without further ado here's the top quotes from January 2013.  Enjoy!

• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 4550ci v3
• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 8000i
• "Pricing on the Street" for Canon C4051
• "Pricing on the Street" for Canon C4051 v2
• "Pricing on the Street" for Ricoh MP5002SP
• "Pricing on the Street" for Sharp MX-503
• "Pricing on the Street" for Savin MP5002SP
• "Pricing on the Street" for KonicaMinolta Bizhub 501
• "Pricing on the Street for Canon C5250 MFP
• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 2550ci

-=Good Selling=-

When Was the Last Time You Named your Printer or Copier?

"Can anyone come up with a fun and creative name for a Canon copier/printer? It's my job to name it since the office just got a new one the other day and I'm the new work study employee. All the other ones were named by previous work studies and were good like a leased Canon was Lisa Canon...since they leased a Canon. Thanks!"

Whoa, this was a thread I picked up the other day in my google alerts for a yahoo forum.  After 32 years in the industry, WTF,  I now find out that office workers actually give a name to the copier?

I have to admit that the old name for the Canon for Lisa Canon was pretty creative! Of course everyone could use the Lisa for Ricoh, Xerox, KonicaMinolta and the rest. So, I thought I would try my hand at thinking up some names for copiers.

Here we go ( I took these names that were popular in the Victorian Era:

Hope Xerox (hoping it works all the time)
Lottie Ricoh (we make a lot of copies)
Lulu Kyocera (our copier is a loser)
Benedict Arnold Toshiba (the copier never works right)
Dick KonicaMinolta (our copier sucks)
Nimrod Sharp (odd name for an odd copier)
Owen Savin (we owe a lot of money on this copier)
Pleasant Muratec (we like our copier)
Zebulon Xerox (it's our prized copier)
Newton Ricoh (we just got it)
August Kyocera (the month the new copier was purchased)
Merlin Toshiba (our system is amazing)
Avis KonicaMinolta (we're only leasing this system for a short time)
Beaton Sharp (we beat on this system all the time)
Charity Savin (a hand me down)
Eustace Muratec (our system is useless)
Faithful Xerox (always works well)
Hercules Ricoh (our system is a workhorse)
Marmaduke Kyocera (our system is huge)
Patience Toshiba (it'll work just give it time)
Postumus KonicaMinolta (our last copier died unexpectadly)
Temperance Sharp (sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't)
Thurstan Savin (our system is always going through toner so fast)
Wy Muratec (why did we ever get this system)

I'm done, my favorites would be Hope, Benedict Arnold, Dick, Owen, Avis, Charity and Marmaduke.  But maybe we can name copiers and printers after rock stars right, these copiers and printers keep the wheels turning at the office everyday and with out them the paper process does start.  Think about Bruce, Billy, Mick, Ringo, Frank (I'm aging myself), and another thought might be to name them after songs like Sweet Home Alabama, Stairway to Heaven, Under My Thumb, Wild Horses.  

So, the next time I sell a copier, I will ask the new owner what name they would like to use for their new copier or printer, and I'm sure I'll get one of those strange New Jersey looks and be escorted to the door. Hey!  If you've got any really cool names drop them here in the response section!!

-=Good Selling=-

Checking In & Out at The Print4Pay Hotel

This was an article written by Scott Cullen (Scott also operates The Week in Imaging) back in 04, I've  updated some of the numbers such as total members, membership demographics, page views and a few other items to keep it current. (Art)

By: Scott Cullen

When one checks into the Print4Pay Hotel it’s the guests who receive tips, not the staff. The Print4Pay Hotel: The Imaging Professional's Resource Center is a Website (www.p4photel.org) and message board focused on providing extensive imaging product information to resellers as well as a forum for imaging industry personnel to share knowledge. Although most members work for different dealerships, virtually all sell and service the Ricoh, Lanier, Savin, Sharp, Canon, KonicaMinolta, Toshiba, Muratec, Okidata, Lexmark, Xerox  and Kyocera family print devices.

The site also contains an impressive collection of documents, price quotes, competitive proposals, self help documents, RFP's, and brochures on various manufacturers office equipment. Art Post, CEO of the Print4Pay Hotel and Docusultant with Century Office Products in Edison, NJ, is the architect behind the Print4Pay Hotel. The site allows digital imaging specialists to share information and find answers quickly, says Post. It's also a place where imaging professionals can store their knowledge, search their knowledge, and share their inspirations, ideas and passion for the industry.

Launched twelve years ago on a MSN community, Post eventually switched to his

Top Ten Copier Proposals for December 2012

Alarming it's all I can say about a recent price/proposal I saw from a Kyocera Dealer that was quoting a penny per page for full color!  As I stated in a recent email to Print4Pay Hotel members if you're not aware of this new pricing strategy, well...then you're going to lose every deal!  Take a gander at these recent proposals from Kyocera and you'll see what I mean!

Each month on the Print4Pay Hotel forums we'll upload "Pricing on the Street" quotes, these quotes are certified as accurate since the pricing information is emailed to us from other Print4Pay Hotel members in the field.

We'll also receive and upload quotes and proposals from other Print4Pay Hotel members and these quotes will be "the proposal or quote" that was emailed to the end user.

Each month I'll list those proposals/quotes and "Pricing on the Street" here with the associated links.  You need to be a Premium Member in order to download the documents.  So without further ado here's the top quotes from Decemner 2012.  Enjoy!

• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 3050ci
• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 4550ci Color & Kyocera TASKalpha 4550
• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 4550ci
• "Pricing on the Street" for Kyocera TASKalfa 3500i
• "Pricing on the Street" for kyocera taskalpha 3500i v2
• "Pricing on the Street" for toshiba e-studio 4540C
• Sharp MX-B402SC
• "Pricing on the Street" for ricoh mpc2051sp
• "Pricing on the Street" for ricoh mp4002sp
• "Pricing on the Street" for ricoh mp301pf

-=Good Selling=-

"Do you think Sharp will sell the MFP division"?

Back in early November I posted a poll on the Print4Pay Hotel forums. We asked "Do you think Sharp will sell the MFP division"?  The response was a simple yes or no.

If you're a new reader, please let me give you a little background about the Print4Pay Hotel. The short and sweet of the Print4Pay Hotel is that we started a web forums for imaging industry people back in 2003.  To date we have close to 2,000 registered members, we also cull the membership to keep our email list up to date (since many in our industry come and go).  It's my belief and I've heard this from many others, that the Print4Pay Hotel members is a conglomerate of the best of breed sales people, managers and dealers owners from around the globe.

If you've not been hiding under a rock for the last six months then you know that Sharp, Japan has been overburdened with debt. This debt was accumulated from large losses, the mortgaging of almost all of their properties and recent titanic bank loans from Japanese banks.  Lately, Sharp is in somewhat of a small rebound due to the recent yen declining against the US dollar, a small investment from Qualcom (small compared to the debt that Sharp owes) and the recent statement that Sharp expects to turn a profit  for the last fiscal quarter of this year (ends March 31st).

Some recent threads that were posted on the Print4Pay Hotel forums were this:

The Worst Copier Web Sites in the World Contest!

This was a recent thread that we posted on the Print4Pay Hotel forums. It all started the other day with a Press Release from Sharp USA that they had signed on another new Copier/MFP Dealer.  Over the last six months Sharp has been issuing Press Releases about the signings of these new Copier/MFP Dealers, the Press Releases about signing new MFP dealers is something that Sharp had not done in the past prior to an analysts report that Sharp may sells it's MFP/Copier business.

One bold Print4Pay Hotel member has been researching these new dealers and visiting their web sites. In a recent Sharp Press Release our Print4Pay Hotel member posted a link the new Sharp Dealers web site. Which lead us to probably one of the worst copier dealer web sites we've ever seen. If the web site is indicative of the Dealerships technical capabilities and solutions, then.... well better to read the thread from our Print4Pay Hotel Member,

"Another technology giant and world power of copier dealers that doesnt even put there name, phone number or address on the web site, let alone that they handle sharp. That will turn it all around".

With that one thread our Print4Pay Hotel members launched a campaign to post links for the "The Worst Copier Web Sites in the World".  We then added a contest that would allow our members to vote for the "The Worst Copier Web Site in the World".  In just one day we've had 13 threads and 6 Dealers web sites listed.  Another Print4Pay Hotel member made this comment,

"BAAAAAAAHHHHHHAAAAAA LMFAO! Is that a sorter?

If you have a copier dealerships web site that you'd like to add, then go here for the Print4Pay Hotel forums, post your link, and then take a gander at the sites that are listed. At the end of the month we'll open up the polls so every one can vote on the "The Worst Copier Web Site in the World".  Hmmmm, seems to me I mentioned "contest", what will the winner get?  You'll have to tune in to the forums to find out.

As an added incentive for new members to join, after you've registered here (it's free), I'll send you one of my Print4Pay Hotel Publications at no charge. You can have your choice for one publication. They are located on the eight side of this blog under Print4Pay Hotel Publications. Make sure you send me and email about the FREE publication! art@p4photel.com

-=Good Selling=-

Top Ten MFP Copier Industry Predictions for 2013

2012 a not so good year for the MFP copier industry or a good year for the MFP copier industry.  

I'm thinking that most will answer a not so good year at least for the industry as a whole. I guess the biggest question that will need to be answered in 2013 is related to Sharp.  Will Sharp continue as it once was, or will they be forced to sell off divisions to remain in business.  Lately there's been a little good news with the investment from Qualcom. 

Another question is how many more dealers will make the jump to managed services and will managed services live up the hype?  Anyone you slice it I can see that 2013 will be another year of change in an industry that is in turmoil.

Last year we posted this blog Top Ten MFP & Copier Predictions for 2012, and it seems we got a few of these right such as: 

• Kodak files for Bankruptcy or is bought
• Ricoh USA finally comes clean and announces that Ricoh Corp USA is headquarter is Malvern, PA
• Managed Print Services...the hype continues
• Xerox announces additional layoffs in the US
• USA MFP Copier manufacturer sees the introduction of the first A4 Segment 5 MFP (Lexmark MX812 & there was also an announcement of an HP 70ppm color A4 device for 2013)

5 out of 10 is not so bad since some of the predictions are off the wall and meant to be lighthearted. 

Without further ado listed below is our Top Ten MFP Predictions for 2013

Sharp "Reading Between the Lines" Part 2

Sharp Update!!

Intel may take a 30 billion yen investment in Sharp by the end of the month, the 30 billion yen is less than 10% of what Sharp expects to lose this year.

There was also a report that Qualcom may also do something in the near future.

In another report Ming the Merciless aka Terry Guo is providing a personal guarantee for HonHai to move forward with the purchase of Sharp's 10th gen LCD plant. It's reported for about 19 billion yen. Keep in mind that Sharp is expected to lose 450 billion yen this year. Thus that's 5.6 billion US dollars!

Money from Intel and Hon Hai is only 49 billion yen. That's a mere 10% of the expected losses for this year.

Another report states that Sharp will raise production at it's Kameyama No. 2 plant to near 100%, this plant produces the IGZO screens for Apple's Ipad tablet.

Sharp is banking on IGZO as the revival of it's fortunes.

The Sharp debacle has now many months under it's legs since a Nikkei Analyst stated that "Sharp May Sell it's Copier Business" . 

There are those of us in the copier industry that believe that the rhetoric from Sharp USA is correct and others that believe that the silence from Sharp Corp JP may tell the true story.  I try to read every press release to try and make sense of what Sharp Corp will do with their copier business unit.  On one hand I believe it is a valuable resource to them, however on the other hand I see how deep they are with the likes of Apple,  and their IGZO displays. Those of us in the industry know that the herd of copier manufacturers needs to be culled, the industry as a whole will be stronger if Sharp decides to get out of the copier/mfp business.

I think Sharp needs to pull the plug and get out while the getting is good, page volumes don't look good for the future, while screens for tablets, mini tablets, and phones will continue to expand.  So, why why hold on to a business unit that may wither away in the near future.  The likes of Kyocera, and Toshiba are probably chomping at the bit to swallow the existing Sharp dealers, Sharp direct and their base.

What would you do if you were Sharp Corp?

-=Good Selling=-

Sharp "Reading between the Lines"

Sharp Action is the title of a thread on the Print4Pay Hotel forums.  Just today I had the chance to check out the threads from Print4Pay Hotel members.

The thread was started by GMAN (we all know GMAN is good for some juicy news) that BIG News is coming for Sharp Dealers and consider yourself warned!  I love a good rumor just as good as everyone else if not more.  I PM'd (private message) GMAN through the forums and all I'm going to day is "that is it not Sharp's Promotional Plus Pricing".

The one thing that I love about the Print4Pay Hotel forums is that you can "read between the lines" meaning when it comes to Sharp USA I can understand where they are coming from and why they are so aggressive in the US marketplace now.  But the "reading between the lines" comes from other Print4Pay Hotel members that are speculating or hearing someone else on another level.

Vince McHugh writes his own blog at The Connected Copier, if you're following his blog and mine about Sharp and the comments then I believe you are being kept up to date with the recent events of Sharp Corporation.  Every since a Nikkei analyst stated that "Sharp MAY sell it copier division", Sharp USA has been on the defensive, so much so that they've signed some 15 new dealers, instituted a new Promotional Plus pricing program and even had the Chairman of Sharp's Dealer Advisory Council tell Vince that he should stick to selling copiers, this is his statement "I recommend that you focus on your business".  So, here's a Sharp Dealer Owner that is trying to set the record straight because he heard from "Sharp Corporation's top factory executive and Member of the Board that they shared plans for a profitable B2B business".  I agree, that top exec needs to say the right thing and do everything he can to keep the factories running, stating anything else would just keep adding fuel to the fire.

Here's some of the comments from the forums:

Was Ricoh USA in fact absorbed by IKON?

 We're going to take you way back to December 2nd of 2007 when I posted this poll Print4Pay Hotel forums Who is Going to Acquire Who in 08! .

The Print4Pay Hotel forums is for anyone who is in the office equipment business, we have over 2,000 registered global members. We share infomation and news in a secure format via our forums. To date we have almost 40,000 threads related to the industry.  I like to call it the wiki notes  of the copier industry for the last ten years.

On with the poll question.

Who is going to Buy Who in 2009:

The results were: 18%   for Ricoh to buy Ikon 18%   for Canon to buy Ikon 55%   for HP to buy Ikon 0%    for Ricoh to buy Danka 2%    for Canon to buy Danka 0%    for HP to buy Danka Plus these two threads: Could the writing be on the wall???Always give a second look at a company when they start to buy back their own stock!  IKON Office Solutions (NYSE: IKN) 23% HIGHER; announced that its Board of Directors has approved the repurchase of $500 million of its common stock. IKON intends to repurchase up to $295 million of its common stock through a modified "Dutch Auction" self-tender offer at a price of not less than $13 per share or more than $15 per share (posted by yours truly).

Sharp Corp's Swan SONG "We did it Our Way"

A Print4Pay Hotel sing along!  A classic, just use the lyrics below!


And now, the end is near
And so we face the final curtain
My dealers, We'll say it clear
Did we make our last MFP, of which we're not certain
We spanned a century of business
We manufactured copiers, tv's and fax machines
And more, much more than this, we messed it up our way

Regrets, we've had a few
But then again, many more to mention
We did what we had to do to try and save our business
We planned each charted course, each careful step along this last year
And more, much more than this, We did it our way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When we bit off more than we could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
We screwed it up and accepted a bank bailout
We faced it all and we stood tall and did it our way

We copied, we faxed and printed
We've had our time, our share of losing
As the debt draws near, you'll find us boozing
To think we did all that
And may we say, not in a great way,
"Oh, no, oh, no, we are Sharp, we did it our way"

For what is Sharp? is sincerity and creativity
If not ourself, then we have naught
We made some aweful choices and suffered some terrible losses
The record shows we took blows and we did our way!

Yes, it was our way

This is intended for entertainment, have fun with it!

-=Good Selling=-

There is No End in Site for Sharp "Part Deux"

Look at that a new Sharp picture for the Blog

Today......Reuters reports that Sharp Corporation may lose 5 US Billion Dollars in the first half of it's fiscal year.  Reuters went on the report that the loss was due to restructuring and valuation losses on inventory. I'm not an accountant and I can't tell you what valuation losses mean.

The report also stated that the 5 US Billion dollar amount is double what Sharp had projected in August of 2012. It was also stated that Sharp is looking to generating and operating profit for the time period from October to March. 

During lunch to day I had the chance to catch up with fellow blogger Vince McHugh,  we were discussing how can Sharp get themselves out of the hole with their massive debt.  Plus what company in their right mind would want to buy manufacturing divisions of Sharp that are losing money? 

In the news tonight the economic climate seems to worsening in Europe, the US dollar is still losing ground to the Japanese yen, and yet Sharp Corporation debt is staggering!  Now, I'm sure they have a plan if everything goes according to plan, but over the last five years it seems that nothing goes according to plan.  Just as the US might start eeking out a decent GDP, Europe may be sliding deeper into a recession.

I posted a response on Vince's Blog the other day when the Sharp discussion came up.  It's plain and simple:

There is No End in Site to Sharp's Crisis

In a editorial release the other day from The Asahi Shimbun, they reported that "there in no end in site Sharp's Crisis".  The report went on to state that the Hon Hai Group deal with Ming the Merciless (Terry Gou) is on hold and this deal is critical to Sharp's turn around. One of the key factors maybe that Hon Hai wants a seat on the Sharp board, and Sharp seems unwilling to move on this.  This could be a deeper culture issue with the Chinese and Japanese. 

It was also reported last week that the two main Japanese bank lenders MAY send and executive team to protect their interests, at this point there's been no further news about this. 

While we've been following all of the news & rumors about Sharp on the Print4Pay Hotel forums, it seems to be the general consensus that Sharp USA may also be starting to feel the effects of Sharp's financial mess. I for one have put doubt in current Sharp MFP clients and will continue to bring up the financial crisis for Sharp, and if I'm doing it, pretty much means anyone with half a brain is also bringing this up. 

Ask yourself what has value that Sharp can sell?  Is there any real value in business units that can't make a profit with LCD TV's?

Here's some of the recent threads on the Print4Pay Hotel forums:

• Art, I'm beginning to hear rumblings of contraction in their direct branches and even possible sell offs.  Can anyone confirm/deny? If true, is this welcome news for Sharp dealers?
• Heard of some NC, ehhmm consolidation.
• well Sharp was announcing a number of new dealers recently this could be a play to be a Dealer only org in the US. come to think of it why are OEM's in the business of selling anyways? You would think OEM's would adopt a dealer structure like the Automotive industry.
• They could be going to more of a master distributor type of model. It is way less expensive for them to support 4-5 big wholesalers than 3-4-500 dealers across the US. The dist then has to give tech support, parts dist etc. A few years ago they pushed all the smaller dealers doing less than $500K annually thru distributors. This may be their long term master plan....... But who the heck knows?

These are only four of the 80 threads and 1,300 reads that were posted about the Sharp Crisis, I'm sure there will be many more in the coming months and days. If you'd like to read or post additional information, go to Print4Pay Hotel forums and enjoy.

Could Sharp be the next Kodak?

-=Good Selling=-