Top 10 News for Week of 10/22/12 – Lower Hardware Revenues a

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Xerox Revenue, Income Down for Third Quarter, Services Revenue Overtakes Technology Revenue Lexmark Beats Wall Street Expectations, Software Revenue Up, Hardware Revenue Down Only Slight Decline in Worldwide Printed Page Volume, Reports IDC EFI Revenue, Income Up, Led by Industrial Inkjet Printing Growth Canon Posts Weaker-than-Expected Earnings, Downgrades Forecast for Full Year Xerox Teams up with McAfee to Protects Printers and MFPs from Malware HP’s Snapfish Releases Mobile App for Printing from iPhones New Epson XP-850 for Consumers, Photo Printing Epson Enters Technical Printing Market with New SureColor T-Series Personal 3D Printer Sales Jump 35,000 Percent since 2007 Follow Us Share We’ll be shortly testing the Pantum P2000 laser printer. Stay tuned for a Hands-On Test Report and Review. Check out this innovative mobile technology.	This week saw Xerox and Lexmark release their third-quarter earnings statements. While both companies reported hardware sales declines, what was interesting was that both reported positive upticks for non-services. For Xerox, it was its business-processing unit, while for Lexmark it was its Perceptive Software unit. Canon also reported its third-quarter results, with weaker-than-expected earnings, and lower hardware revenue, and downgraded its full-year 2012 forecast. In a press conference, Canon Chief Financial Officer Toshizo Tanaka also expressed worries about a Chinese boycott of Japanese products, "In addition to the impact of the global economic slowdown, we’ve factored in the risk that our sales activities are facing, especially in China." Tanaka said consumers in China have been boycotting Japanese cameras and consumer goods, while Chinese public offices have suspended buying office equipment made by Japanese firms. If this is true, then of course other Japan-based digital-imaging vendors will be affected. On a little brighter side, worldwide printed page volume generated by printers and MFPs saw only a very slight decline last year, reports IDC. For the most part though, this was only because of an increase in printed page volume in developing countries, where printed page volume was on the upswing (7.5 percent) last year, countered by a 5.0 percent decline in developed countries that include the United States, Canada, Western Europe and Japan. The resilient EFI never ceases to amaze. Don’t ask how but they have become a presence in an industrial inkjet market that is still in its infancy. Visionary on board at EFI. Xerox introduced new anti-malware software from partner McAfee, maker of PC security software. The software is embedded in the Xerox MFP’s controller, and uses McAfee’s white- and black-listing technology. With it, IT can make sure only approved white-listed- programs can reach the MFP. The first Xerox MFPs incorporating the new software will be out next year, and will include Xerox ColorCube and WorkCentre models. With the Instagrams of the world and Google’s abandonment of Picasa, who cares about photo-sharing sites? The answer is that HP adds value to its Snapfish photo sharing community via integrated sales of prints and a variety of print media. Epson introduced its latest "small-in-one," the Expression XP-850 full-color inkjet All-in-One for consumers. We think that you will want one because the XP-850 is the cutest AiO ever (really – the picture doesn’t do it justice). Epson also entered the technical printing market with the introduction of its SureColor T-Series of plotters that use Epson MicroPiezo inkjet-printing technology. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–3D printers are the most exciting innovation to hit digital printing in decades. With weekly innovations, it seems that the world can’t get enough of them. Have a great weekend! Terry Wirth
Xerox Revenue, Income Down for Third Quarter, Services Revenue Overtakes Technology Revenue  Xerox today reported its third-quarter results, with revenue of $5.4 billion, down  3 percent versus the same quarter a year ago, as well as earnings per share of 21 cents, and adjusted earnings per share of 25 cents. Revenue from services was up 6 percent, while technology revenue (printers, MFPs, services, financing, etc.) was down 7 percent. Net income was down 12 percent at  $329 million, versus $288 million for third-quarter 2011. Read more here. Get the Word Out by Advertising with Us Want to get the word out about your product or solution? This weekly newsletter reaches the movers and shakers in the digital-imaging industry. Contact Terry Wirth to learn about our affordable advertising rates and how you can reach our select readers like yourselves. Lexmark Beats Wall Street Expectations, Software Income Up, Hardware Revenue Down  For the third quarter, Lexmark reported net income of $0.0  cents per share versus 86 cents per share for the same quarter a year ago, or $0 million income compared to third-quarter 2011 income of $67 million. Revenue fell 11.2% to $919 million, versus third-quarter 2011 revenue of $1.035 billion. Read more here. Only Slight Decline in Worldwide Printer/MFP Page Volume, Reports IDC Last year saw only a slight decline in printer/MFP worldwide printed page, with page volume decreasing to 3.09 trillion pages in 2011, down 1.0 percent from 3.12 trillion pages in 2010, according to new research from International Data Corporation (IDC). Read more here. EFI Revenue, Income Up, Led by Industrial Inkjet-Printing Growth  Electronics For Imaging (EFI) last week reported its third-quarter results, with revenue of $154.1 million, up 5 percent compared to third-quarter 2011. Net income was $13.4 million, or $0.28 per diluted share, compared to $6.1 million, or $0.13 per share, for third-quarter 2011. Read more here. Canon Posts Weaker-than-Expected Earnings, Downgrades Full-Year Forecast Canon Inc. of Japan today released its third-quarter financial results, reporting sales and earnings declines, and citing worsening weakness in Europe, global economic slowdown, moderating growth in developing countries, and the continuing strengthening of the Japanese Yen against the Euro. It also cut its full-year forecast – for full-year 2012, the company is forecasting net sales will be down 0.7 percent, while net income will be down 5.9 percent. Read more here. Xerox and McAfee Team Up to Protect Printers and MFPs from Malware Xerox and McAfee,maker of PC security software,  demonstrated new software, McAfee Embedded Control software, that protects Xerox printers and MFPs from malware attacks, with the first networked MFP to use a filtering method that allows only approved programs to get through to printers and MFPs. While malware threats are most often associated with just personal computers, Xerox demonstrated to attendees at the McAfee FOCUS 12 security conference that any networked device, including printers and MFPs, is vulnerable. Read more here. HP’s Snapfish Releases Mobile App for Printing from iPhones Hewlett-Packard’s Snapfish today announced “Prints on the Go,” a new feature on the Snapfish iPhone app that enables users to order prints directly from their Apple iPhone and pick up their order at retail locations. Snapfish (snapfish.com) is an HP company that enables consumers to store and share their photos, as well as order prints and then retrieve them at over 10,000 locations, including Walgreens, Walmart, and Duane Read retail locations. Photos can also incorporated into jewelry, home decor, mousepads, coffee mugs, and produced as canvas prints. Read more here. New Epson Expression XP-850 for Consumers, Photo Printing Epson is introducing its latest color inkjet All-in-One for graphic arts and photo printing, the Expression XP-850 ($299.99 MSRP). It uses six – not the typical four – Epson Claria Photo HD ink colors for optimal color photo printing. It also features a 3.5″ color touch screen with swipe gesture navigation, as well as high-resolution 4,800 x 4,800 dpi color scanning. Read more here. Epson Enters Technical Printing Market with New SureColor T-Series Epson America today introduced a new line of large-format inkjet color plotters designed for engineering and scientific professionals – the SureColor  T3000, T5000, and T7000. Marking Epson’s entry into the technical printing market, the SureColor T-Series provides architects, engineers and GIS professionals with what Epson’s calling the fastest plotting speeds in their class, as well as industry-leading plotting accuracy, and new Epson UltraChrome XD pigment inks. Read more here. Personal 3D Printer Sales Jump 35,000 Percent Since 2007 Yes, you read that right. Citing a new report from Wohlers Associates, an independent consulting firm, Bloomberg News says sales of 3D printers that create solid objects and cost less than $5,000 grew more than 35,000 percent, from 66 3D printers sold five years ago, to 23,265 3D printers sold in 2011. Read more here.
Product Testing and Reviews for Today’s Printers, MFPs and Solutions Looking for more than just "speeds and feeds" testing? Contact us for product testing and reviews containing the in-depth information that today’s users are looking for. We evaluate digital-imaging products from a true end-user perspective, from installation, to solutions, image quality, ease of use and more. We can give you the competitive edge and personalized attention you won’t find anywhere else. For over 35 years, we’ve been testing all things digital imaging, from desktop laser and inkjet printers and All-in-Ones, scanners, office MFPs and production-printing systems. Commissioned and Benchmark Testing Wirth Consulting is also available for confidential commissioned and benchmark testing at our location or yours – whether it’s productivity, image-quality, competitive research, or consumables-yield testing, we’ve done it all. With our pre-launch testing, we will pinpoint product strengths and address any limitations before introduction, so that you can most effectively face off against the competition. All test results remain strictly confidential and become the sole property of the vendor. For more information on our testing procedures, see here.  "Many business-machine analysts base their recommendations almost entirely on performance test results, but Wirth Consulting goes a significant step beyond that. Wirth Consulting filters its lab results through a screen of end-user expectations in areas like ease of installation and maintenance, software quality, network compatibility and job management." – Product Marketing Manager   About Us Terry and Kathy Wirth formed Wirth Consulting in 2008 in order to provide definitive independent evaluations of business-imaging devices. We have decades of experience in the office-products industry and have been testing printers, MFPs, All-in-Ones, scanners, production systems and their related software and solutions since their inception. Vendors tell us our reports are the most thorough in the industry.

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October 26, 2012 at 8:29 AM