Ursula Burns, a new CEO of Xerox, interviewed by CNN

Lexmark announced new laser MFUs

The U.S. printer manufacturer, Lexmark, announced the release of 9 monochrome MFUs in three new model lineups. All the new devices include printing, scanning and copying functions with optional faxing. Their price ranges from USD399 to USD999.


Lexmark X264DN

At the price low end, Lexmark offers the new X260 series, such as the X264DN, at the price of USD399. This MFU with the speed of 30 ppm and a 550-sheet tray, flatbed scanner and auto feeder targets individuals and small work groups.


Lexmark X363DN

At the middle end of the price range, the X360 series is represented by the USD499 X363DN multifunctional device. The new printer is 35 ppm speedy. It scans can be sent directly to any computer in the network with the Lexmark Network Scan center software.


Lexmark X463D

At the high end of the new models, we find the X460 series, such as the USD999 X463DE. This model targets small work groups and middle-size offices. It prints up to 40 ppm single sided or 18 ppm in duplex. The firs page out time is just around 6.5 seconds. The printer also has a 7-inch touch screen interface that can be configured for easier access to functions. Network scanning is also supported, but fax support is only available as an add-on feature.

Source: Lexmark.com

Key words:Lexmark, new products, MFUs, new models, monochrome printing.

HP Resolves Ink Cartridge Patent Infringement with LexJet Corporation

HP announced that it has resolved the dispute and dismissed a patent infringement lawsuit against Florida-based LexJet Corporation and LexJet Southern California, LLC, regarding inks used in certain remanufactured HP large-format ink cartridges.

On May 22, 2008, HP filed a lawsuit against LexJet in the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of California.

HP and the ink manufacturer supplying ink to LexJet have developed a solution to avoid legal action. LexJet’s ink manufacturer has agreed to reformulate the inks in question and pay HP an undisclosed amount of money.

“HP is pleased to have resolved this matter quickly, and we remain committed to vigorously protecting our investment in intellectual property,” said Stephen Nigro, senior vice president, Inkjet and Web Services Business, Imaging and Printing Group, HP. “As part of HP’s ongoing worldwide testing and enforcement efforts, we will continue to monitor LexJet and others for possible patent infringement.”

Source: www.hp.com

Key words: HP, court, agreement, LexJet

Cartridge World sees profit increase in economic turmoil

Despite unfavourable economic conditions, there still some business that thrive, mentions the web portal www.kndo.com. Cartridge World stores all across the U.S. are reporting higher sales numbers. The two local branches, one in Kennewick, and one in Pasco, report a 9% increase in 2008. They've already seen an even bigger jump in sales in the first two months of 2009.

President of the Tri-Cities stores, Kay Brewer, says companies that are helping people save money, are the ones doing well in today's market. She says everyone is trying to save money, and buying recycled print cartridges is just one way. Brewer explains, "They're around 30% to 40% off of what a new one is, and the best part is that you don't have to wait when you come in. We have them ready to go, so it's one trip; you save gas too."

Brewer calls Cartridge World a "recession proof" business. She says more companies and schools are turning to them to save money, instead of buying brand new toner, which costs more.

The company is doing so well that they are opening a new branch in Walla Walla in May, and they've even hiring.

Source: www.kndo.com

Key words:Cartridge World, companies, news, recession

Sensient Technologies reported record earnings

Sensient Technologies Corporation dealing with high-purity dyes for inkjet and industrial applications reported record earnings for 2008. Consolidated 2008 revenue hiked 5.7 percent to $1.3 billion; the figure was $1.2 billion for 2007. For the fourth quarter of 2008, Sensient’s diluted earnings per share climbed 10.3 percent, to 43 cents, compared to 39 cents for the 2007 fourth quarter.

Source: Recharger Magazine

Key words:Sensient, inks, 2008

New laser printers from Samsung

Samsung launched a new laser printer: Samsung ML-2855ND, which offers output speed of 30 pages per minute, helped by a 400MHz processor and 64MB expandable to 192MB of memory. The recommended market price of the printer is $358. The new printer is a compact device having built-in duplex printing and a TonerSave feature to cut its total cost of operation. It also has a USB 2.0 interface and 250-sheet cassette and 50-sheet multipurpose paper tray. It is designed to produce 50,000 pages per month.

Source: www.samsung.com

Key words: Samsung, technology, laser, printer

New all-in-One Pixma inkjets from Canon

Canon added two new modes to its office all-in-one lineup. The Pixma MX860 and Pixma MX330 combine color inkjet printing with copying, scanning, and fax capability and a flock of convenience features.

Priced at USD200, the MX860 includes automatic duplex copying, printing, and two-way paper feeding, for two-sided copying or scanning of letter-sized documents without the need to flip and re-feed pages. The unit can also scan and print at the same time during copying jobs and combines 802.11b/g wireless with Ethernet and USB connectivity for multi-PC sharing.


Pixma MX850 - the model previous to MX860

The USD 110 Pixma MX330 features slightly lower scan and print resolution, with a four-color, two-cartridge ink system and a 1.8- instead of 2.5-inch color LCD control panel. In addition, the MX330 offers an Auto Scan Mode that recognizes the type of document being scanned so it can be saved quickly in the right format; the ability to save scanned JPG and PDF data directly to a flash drive or memory card; and Auto Photo Fix red-eye correction and brightness and contrast optimization.


Pixma MX310 - the model previous to MX330

Source: Hardwarecentral.com.

Key words: Canon, technology, inks, printer

Kodak is experiencing hardships

According to Reuters, Eastman Kodak forecast a wider-than-expected loss and said revenue could drop as much as 18 percent in 2009.

In a statement on Feb. 03, 2009, Kodak reps explained the company expected revenue to drop 12 percent to 18 percent in 2009, leading to a loss from continuing operations of $200 million to $400 million.

Analysts had expected a 2009 loss of only $35 million, according to Reuters.

In the statement, Chief Executive Antonio Perez said the company's balance sheet is "solid", but that it sees "no immediate signs of economic recovery."

Compounding its woes, the recession has pushed Kodak's consumer customers to scale back on vacations and other events that typically spur use of photography services. Meanwhile, businesses have reduced spending on printing systems.

One year ago, before the worst of the economic downturn, Kodak's perspective looked much brighter. It had anticipated revenue by a compound annual growth rate 5 percent from 2008 to 2011. A new restructuring plan was elaborated. During that restructuring, Kodak halved its workforce.

As a result of the economic environment, the company plans to cut costs, including investment in growth areas, such as Image Sensor Solutions, its Kodak Gallery online service, Electrophotographic Printing in GCG, and Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED).
Source: www.reuters.com

Key words: Kodak, economic downturn, loss in value

Lexmark changes its inkjet division's name

Lexmark International executives told employees on Jan. 28 that the company is changing the official name of its inkjet printer division to better reflect its strategy and product offerings.

The Consumer Products Division, as it has been called, has been renamed the Imaging Solutions Division.

Paul Rooke, Lexmark's Executive Vice President, who heads the division, noted that since 2007, Lexmark "has been transitioning our CPD business from a low-end, low-usage consumer-focused business to a business with higher-value, higher-usage inkjet devices designed to meet the needs of small office/home office and small to midsized business customers."

Lexmark's inkjet division has struggled since the latter half of 2005 as customers bought the printers, which are often sold for little or no profit, but then didn't buy enough of the highly profitable ink to meet profit expectations.

Since 2006, Lexmark has walked away from 20 percent, and then 30 percent more, of its inkjet printer sales in an attempt to get away from those people who don't print enough.

It has focused product introductions on higher-usage segments, such as all-in-ones, which include scan, copy and sometimes fax functions. Plus, it's developed many wireless inkjet printers, which are often used by multiple computers, meaning more ink used per printer.

And the company is focusing its marketing dollars on countries with higher print usage.

Source: www.kentucky.com

Key words: Lexmark, name, Imaging department, printers

Fall in profit for Xerox

Xerox had the following results in the 4th quarter of 2008:

* Q4 net income $1 million; revenue falls 10%
* Sales of supplies and services down 8%
* Sales to high growth markets retreated

According to Reuters, Xerox barely eked out a profit in the fourth quarter, hurt by a dramatic decline in demand from Russia and other emerging markets, and $349 million in restructuring costs, sending shares down 9 percent.

The lingering sting of higher manufacturing costs, due to the strong Japanese yen, also caused the manufacturer of digital printers and provider of document management services to forecast a first-quarter profit that fell short of analysts' targets.

Xerox saw a startling 14 percent decline in revenue from high-growth regions, after these developing markets delivered 17 percent revenue growth through the first three quarters of 2008. Xerox cited soft currency exchange rates and the rapid weakening of Russian and eastern European economies.

"Where you really saw the weakness was in the developing markets," Cross said. "Some of these areas, whether its Brazil, Argentina or Russia, were really on fire. Multinational companies are going to have a challenge dealing with currency this quarter and going into 2009."

Xerox said fourth-quarter net income was $1 million, or nil per share. That is down from $382 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier.

In 2008, Xerox announced a restructuring plan, including about 3,000 job cuts, aimed at saving $200 million in 2009. In the fourth quarter, restructuring charges were 27 cents a share. Revenue fell 10 percent to $4.37 billion. Revenue from sales of supplies and services -- known as "post-sale" revenue -- fell 8 percent to $3.1 billion. Equipment sale revenue declined 15 percent to $1.3 billion, reflecting "weakened economic conditions around the world," Xerox said.

Source: Reuters

Key words: Xerox, profit, 2008, Russia

Cartridge costs are on the rise in North America

Almost all of the printer manufacturers increased their prices for printing supplies. According to the web portal Printer.com, there have been several increases registered at the U.S. market lately.

As of September 1, 2008, HP increased the list prices on all Mono and Color LaserJet Print Cartridges by 5%, as well as increasing by approximately 5-6% the list prices on inkjet cartridges and print heads. The company says this was done as part of HP's portfolio management.

As of November 3rd, 2008, Lexmark made an across the board 5% price increase on printer supplies, while Xerox raised the price on selected products from 3% to 6%. But also Brother, Canon, and Oki are increasing printer supplies prices. Oki has said that prices of ink and toner cartridges are going up a flat 5%, but Brother and Canon have not stated a rate of increase yet.

Although consumers will likely not feel a significant impact from this price increase, small and large businesses with tens, or even hundreds, of printers will see a significant rise in their cost of printing.

Printer manufacturers also significantly increased their prices of printer cartridges in Europe in the last few months. New questions are expected in the European Commission in reaction to cartridge price increases.

Source: www.printer.com

Key words: market, prices for supplies, cartridges

Epson continues to enforce its cartridge patents in the USA

After Epson reached its goal of stopping ink cartridges infringing on the company’s patents from entering the U.S. back in October 2007, the company is now determined to enforce its patents all over the country.

Epson informed it would vigorously proceed with enforcement of its patents now that the validity and enforceability of its patents have again been ratified. A second ITC trial was conducted on Jan.14-16, 2009 in Washington D.C. to determine any financial penalties that may be assessed against Ninestar, Mipo America, Ltd. and Cana-Pacific Ribbons Inc. and their affiliates for alleged violations of the General Exclusion Order. The ITC has not yet determined any violations, but has the authority to assess substantial penalties up to $100,000 per day of violations or twice the commercial value of infringing imports.

In addition to the ITC actions, Epson filed U.S. District Court lawsuits in Portland, Ore., for patent infringement damages against the same 24 companies named in the ITC action and numerous additional distributors and retailers alleged to have continued infringements after the ITC Final Determination.

By these Epson shows it is really determined to use its advantage (court decisions) to the full on the territory of the U.S.

Source: www.epson.co.jp

Key words: Epson, court, cartridges, remanufacturing

HP is celebrating its 40th jubilee of work in the ex-USSR

The U.S. based HP will celebrate its 40th year of working in the USSR and Russia in 2009.

In 1969 the company started shipping its equipment to Soviet scientific centers. In 1980 HP equipment was used for doping control during the Olympic Games in Moscow.

Here is a short overview of what HP brought to the printing industry.

First laser printer: 1984


First mass inkjet printer: 1988


Here are the devices that the company manufactures today:


Source: www.hp40.ru

Key words: HP, printing, shipments of equipment to USSR

Lexmark's value falls: a restructuring plan is in place

Lexmark announced that the weakening global economic environment impacted Lexmark’s fourth quarter 2008 operating performance, which will be lower than expected.

The company’s earnings per share for the quarter have been impacted by several factors including:
• The company’s operating income, which was negatively impacted by significant currency rate shifts during the quarter.
• A tax benefit approximately offsetting in EPS the effect of the currency rate shifts.
• Increased restructuring related charges primarily due to the 2009 Restructuring Plan, which the company announced on January 14.

The 2009 Restructuring Plan is expected to impact about 375 positions. Lexmark expects the 2009 Restructuring Plan to be substantially completed by the end of 2009 and currently expects total annualized cost savings of $50 million when completed, with approximately $40 million in savings in 2009.

Source: lexmark.com

Key words: Lexmark, economic crisis, job cuts, restructuring

Redeem Plc expands its activity in Turkey

Redeem Plc, the UK-based mobile phone and cartridge recycling company, announced a further expansion drive with the planned opening of operations in Turkey. Redeem Turkey, to be based in Istanbul, will introduce mobile phone recovery and recycling to Turkey for the first time. Targeting mobile network operators, manufacturers, businesses and consumers, the business will provide a new service to Turkish recycling and recovery markets.

The business will be run through a licensed agreement, showing a strong display of confidence and investment in the Redeem offering.

Redeem has already undertaken successful campaigns in Ireland and Italy working with the country’s largest operators. In Italy Redeem already manages successful campaigns with TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) and Motorola and also in Ireland with O2, to offer customers a trade in and discount opportunity for new mobile handsets.

Redeem is also currently looking at ongoing opportunities within the UK market and has further plans for expansion beyond Europe.

Source: www.redeemplc.com

Key words: Redeem Plc, Turkey, phone recycling

IBM and Ricoh entered into a sales agreement

Last week IBM and Ricoh announced the two companies would start sharing each other's sales network in 2009 and promote their servers and printers together. The alliance will enable them to offer corporate clients International Business Machines Corp's servers and Ricoh's copiers and printers as a, comprehensive office information technology system. Ricoh expects the new business ties with IBM to help boost its sales by 1.10 billion in two to three years.

Ricoh, competing with Canon, Xerox and Konica Minolta in copiers and printers, forecast 2.15 trillion yen in sales for the current business year ending March. IBM and Ricoh will start handling each other's products in their U.S. sales channels in spring 2009, with the cooperation set to expand to other regions including Europe and Asia.

Ricoh bought IBM's digital commercial printer business for $725 million in 2007. Digital commercial printers are used to print big documents such as product manuals and direct mail quickly and in large volumes, and are one of the fastest-growing segments of the office equipment market.

Source: www.reuters.com

Imagine Graphics

In this short presentation you can have a glance at the manufacturing process and distribution network of Imagine Graphics.



The Russian distributor of the company, Digital System is one of the sponsoring companies of the Russian-language magazine - RechargRussia Magazine - published on monthly basis by RechargEast.

Key words: toner, cartridges, Russia, Digital Systems, Imagine Graphics.