HP:TOP-END COPIER PUSH,XEROX NOT WORRIED.

[Anonymous]

Headline: HP top-end copier push..

Xerox has said it is ready to stand its ground as Hewlett-Packard (HP) enters the high-end copier market. HP believes its range of products, which print up to 85 pages per minute, will improve productivity and reduce Costs by as much as 30%.

HP imaging and printing group EVP Vyomesh Joshi said: “As more content and business processes go digital, there is a tremendous opportunity for companies to harness the power of the network to improve productivity and reduce the operating costs across the imaging and printing environment.”

However, Xerox Office group spokesman Erin Isselmann is promising a fight and told OPI that HP will find it hard to meet its goal of taking control of 10% of the market by 2006.

She said: “This could be an uphill battle for HP. The purchase decision for copiers/ MFPs is not the traditional domain of IT decision makers, but more in the facilities/ purchasing departments. Each of the major vendors, including Xerox, has strong long-term customer relationships that will be difficult to penetrate.”

An industry insider added to OPI: “These are not your average photocopiers and it has been a long time coming. The very high end document management market has been dominated by Xerox with its Docucentre range and HP has tentatively talked about copiers in the past but then always dismissed it as “not the right market yet”. Part of the reason for the change is better technology and an eager (and enlarged) channel.”

Xerox has signed an agreement with Ikon Office Solutions to distribute its copiers. The HP LaserJet 9055mfp and the HP LaserJet 9065mfp are now available in the US.

[Author]

January 31, 2004 at 11:49 AM