Xerox Expands Offerings in Three Office
Product Segments
2005, Lyra Research, Inc.
Xerox was
busy in 2004, introducing a host of new office products spanning multiple
product categories, including network color and monochrome laser printers, color
and monochrome MFPs and digital copiers, and software solutions. Xerox saw
significant sales growth in North America, Europe, and developing areas as a
result of these new products, according to Rob Stewart, vice president of
worldwide marketing for Xerox’s Office Group, who said that the firm will carry
this momentum into the new year with “a quick start to 2005.” Xerox followed up
on this promise with its January 10 announcement of the 165/175 series of
high-performance copier/MFPs, the entry-level FaxCentre F110, and the Phaser
EX7750, a professional high-end color solution.
The 165/175 series are
new additions to Xerox’s digital copier/MFP line. With print speeds of 65 ppm
and 75 ppm respectively, the 165- and 175-series machines match the print speeds
of the firm’s CopyCentre C65/75 and WorkCentre Pro 65/75. However, Kathleen
Salimbene, product marketing manager for monochrome MFPs for Xerox’s Office
Group, says that the new products are designed for the education, large-office,
and light production environments whereas the existing 65 and 75 ppm machines
are geared toward the print-for-pay and CRD environments. “We have decided to
introduce a new product to fit that target market. The existing product fits the
other market fine,” explains Salimbene, adding, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix
it.”
Specifically, Salimbene says that Xerox’s goal was to develop “a new
product that is more cost-effective for the education and general office
environments and includes those features they have been asking for.” To that
end, the new 65 and 75 ppm machines feature walk-up faxing, hole punching, and a
10 percent lower cost per page. Based on the same platform as the WorkCentre Pro
55, the new products also feature a footprint that is 13 inches smaller than the
firm’s existing 65 and 75 ppm products. The average monthly duty cycle of the
new series starts at 30,000 pages for the 65 ppm models and 45,000 pages for the
75 ppm models, and the 165 and 175 series can support monthly print volumes of
250,000 and 300,000 pages, respectively. Salimbene asserts that this is
attractive to the education community where print volumes can reach 200,000
pages per month during peak printing times for test results and report
cards.