Sharp Expected to Post Operating Loss: Another "First" in the Industry

NEW YORK/TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sharp Corp will post an annual operating loss of more than $112 million which is a milestone for the company, as it is its first ever full-year loss.

Not much of a surprise for those who attended the 2009 Lyra Symposium - Sharp did not bode well, receiving a "D" on their Vendor Report Card, for their lack-luster earning trend.

Sharp is the world's No.3 maker of LCD TVs behind Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and Sony Corp (6758.T).

Sharp had forecast an operating profit of 195 billion yen at the start of the financial year, which it cut to 130 billion yen in October as cellphone sales weakened. It reported an operating profit of 183.7 billion yen for the previous business year.

Panasonic to Cut 15,000 Jobs

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic is to cut 15,000 jobs worldwide and close 27 plants. The job cuts amount to 5% of its 300,000-strong global workforce.

"The company's business conditions have worsened particularly since last October, due mainly to the rapid appreciation of the yen, sluggish consumer spending worldwide and ever intensified price competition," a company statement said.

Panasonic now projecting a net loss of 380 billion yen or $4.2 billion for the year ending March 31, rather than the 30 billion yen profit it forecast on Nov. 27.

New York University to Award Vyomesh Joshi 2009 Prism Award

NEW YORK, January 28, 2009 — New York University today named Vyomesh (VJ) Joshi, Executive Vice President of the Imaging and Printing Group at HP, the winner of the 2009 Prism Award. The Prism Award is presented annually in recognition of distinguished leadership in the graphic arts and communications industry.

Sponsored by NYU’s Master of Arts in Graphic Communications Management and Technology Program, the 2009 Prism Award will be presented to Mr. Joshi during the 24th Annual Prism Award Luncheon on Wednesday, June 24th in New York City. This year’s ceremony will be held at the historical Gotham Hall located at 36th Street and Broadway.

Previous NYU Prism Award recipients include: Cathleen Black, president of Hearst Magazines; Richard M. Smith, chairman, editor-in-chief and CEO for editorial and business operations of Newsweek; Antonio M. Perez, president and CEO of Eastman Kodak Company; Anne M. Mulcahy, chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation; William L. Davis, chairman, CEO and president of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company; Henri Dyner, president and CEO of Sun Chemical Corporation; Janet L. Robinson, president and general manager of The New York Times; and Katharine Graham, chairman and CEO of The Washington Post.

Laura Reid, vice president of Hearst Publishing, and Terry A. Tevis, president of T.A. Tevis & Co. LLC., are co-chairpersons of this year’s Prism Committee. Mr. Tevis also serves as a co-chair of the NYU GCMT program’s board of directors, an advisory body comprising industry executives from leading companies in the graphic communications field.

The proceeds of the Prism Award Luncheon help fund student scholarships as well as student and program support for New York University’s internationally renowned Graphic Communications graduate program, which offers curricula to develop the next generation of industry leaders. In 2008, the program won the ESDF Award for Excellence in Education and Innovation in Higher Education.

Since its inception, the Prism Award Luncheon has raised millions of dollars for education.

The Graphic Communications graduate program is based within the NYU School of Continuing and Professional Studies (www.scps.nyu.edu/gcmt). As one of the University’s 15 colleges and schools, NYU SCPS has for over 70 years focused on creating applied professional programs for people who are already in the workforce. In addition to the Graphic Communications Management and Technology program, the school offers industry-focused Master’s degrees in areas such as publishing, direct marketing, public relations, fundraising, human resources management, real estate, construction management, hospitality industry studies, tourism and travel management, and sports management.

Tickets for the June 24th Prism Award Luncheon are available from $750 per person to $6,000 for a Sponsor’s Table of eight, and $10,000 for a Co-Chairmanship (which includes a dais seat as well as a table of eight). Reservations and additional information are available from the NYU SCPS’s Office of Special Events. Please contact Anna Condoulis at 212‑998‑7003, by fax at 212‑995‑4130, or by e-mail at ac5@nyu.edu.

Canon U.S.A. Announces Acquisition of Its Direct Consulting Business by CIBER, Inc.

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, announced that, effective today, CIBER, Inc. has acquired Canon Technology Solutions, Inc. (CTS), which was a subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc.

CTS has been providing advanced technology solutions and consulting to organizations since 1985.

From the CTS site -

Canon Technology Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc., has been an innovative leader in providing advanced technology solutions and consulting to organizations since 1985. Our mission is to help leading corporations create and sustain competitive advantage, empower their employees to achieve ever increasing levels of productivity and accomplishment, and to transform their critical business operations in order to achieve superior levels of performance through the intelligent application of enabling technologies.

"The integration of CTS with CIBER ITO will further expand our capabilities and scale in our managed services and IT outsourcing delivery footprint and will add customized content management solutions to our portfolio," said Mark Perlstein, ITO President. "CIBER and CTS clients will benefit from our commitment to strengthening our existing offerings and adding complementary innovative solutions that will service their unique needs."

Based in Greenwood Village, Colo., the company’s(CIBER, Inc.) consultants now serve client businesses from 60 U.S., 25 European offices and seven offices in Asia.

Operating in 18 countries, with 8,500 employees and annual revenue of approximately $1.2 billion , CIBER’s IT specialists continuously build and upgrade our clients’ systems to “competitive advantage status.” CIBER is included in the Russell 2000 Index and the S&P Small Cap 600 Index.

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What does this mean?

Canon could be shedding costs and making room for

Nature does not like a vacuum -

TallyGenicom Opens Another Chapter - Chapter 11

TallyGenicom files for Chapter 11, assets to be acquired by Printronix, Inc.

TallyGenicom announced last week that it has filed a voluntary petition for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The Company’s filing was instituted in order to effectuate the sale of certain U.S.-based assets of TallyGenicom.

As part of its filing, TallyGenicom will be seeking Court approval to name Printronix Inc., as the lead bidder in the auction process.

TallyGenicom CEO Dan Adragna said, “After working our advisors, investors and lenders to explore a number of alternatives, we have made the strategic decision to pursue a Chapter 11 filing in order to effectuate a sale of certain of the company’s U.S.-based assets,”

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Panasonic - Color, color MFP's Do Not Stop a 3.9 Billion Dollar Slide

Panasonic/Matsushita provided the rumor mill even more reason to suggest that Panasonic may get out of the copier market all together.

Rueters reports Panasonic Corp (6752.T) will report a consolidated net loss after tax of about 350 billion yen ($3.89 billion) in fiscal 2008/09 due to restructuring charges and weak sales of consumer electronics.

This will be Panasonic's first loss in six years, and the biggest since the firm posted a 430 billion yen net loss for the business year that ended in March 2002.

Interestingly, at last week's 2009 Lyra Symposium, Panasonic did not make the roster of copier companies analyzed.

It is not known how much the copier side of Panasonic contributed to the loss.

Printer Industry News: Managed Print Services… Staying the Course – Or Changing the Game?

Great Post from Ed.

Hardware Agnostic, Service based vs. Equipment Based...Printer Industry News: Managed Print Services… Staying the Course – Or Changing the Game?: "In reality, a services business model cannot be commoditized. If a firm is offering differentiated service with significant value add, then there is no way to become commoditized. However, if the firm is wrapping a CPC program around hardware and calling it MPS, this can absolutely become commoditized. But this is also a hardware-centric business model, not a professional services-centric model."

Consolidation - Off go the Mega Dealers...

At the 2009 Lyra Symposium, one of the more prevalent discussion, both on and off stage was consolidation - the more exciting consolidation topics were the possibilities between the manufacturers.

Of course the topic turned to the few remaining independents and the "Mega Independent" dealers.

This week, Xerox, through GIS, acquired one of those Mega dealers - ComDoc. ComDoc, according to their site, was the largest independent Ricoh dealership in the U.S.

ComDoc Chief Executive Officer Riley Lochridge said,

''An offer was made that we think was good for our employees and our shareholders, ... and it will be good for our customers,''

And in a '''rapidly consolidating marketplace,'' he said, joining forces will make the company even stronger and more competitive.

ComDoc employs 600 and had sales of $125 million last year; the employees own the company, so they will share in the proceeds of the sale. ComDoc reportedly services 14,000 customers.

Xerox spokesman Carl Langsenkamp said, ''We try to find dealers that are well-known and have a good customer base,'' he said. ''ComDoc had good, key cities ... and GIS didn't have any operations in Ohio, so this opened up that opportunity.''

This acquisition, will give GIS a presence in 29 states.

All reports are that no major changes in operations will result although a strategic plan to convert clients to Xerox is obvious.

Since the being purchased by Xerox, GIS as made 6 other acquisitions.

It appears that Xerox is utilizing GIS's expertise in dealer assimilation to grow the channel even more.

List of GIS acquisitions(partial) since Xerox purchase, May, 2007:

Imagine Technology Group
Copy Products, Inc.
Alternative Office Systems
Sierra Office Solutions
Saxon Business Systems
Blackstone Valley Office Systems
American Business Machines, Inc.
Better Quality Business Systems
Marbaugh Reprographics Supply Co.
Inland Business Machines, Inc
ComDoc

Lyra Symposium 2009 - The Death of Edgeline

Two years ago Edgeline was all you heard about.

HP had set their eyes on the copier world again and this time it was different.

This time HP has it's own machine, not some "duct taped" apparition.

This time HP was in charge of the channel, not partnering with a non-committal, old school dealer channel.

With Edgeline and an existing VAR channel, The Death of The Copier was just around the corner.

The machine utilized ink, did not use heat, corona wires, or static.

Demos were conducted, partners and service technicians trained.

Awards like the "Must See ‘em award" at the Graph Expo trade show, the “Technology Award” from the Microsoft Vendor Program (MSVP) and kudos from no less than BLI came rolling in.

Elite dealers made unit commitments - the world was their oyster.

The world waited -

And waited.

Fast forward to January, 2009. More specifically to the last session of the three day Lyra 2009 Symposium.

On stage sits the panel of esteemed financial pundits who specialize in analyzing the print industry. Keith Bachman, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst Enterprise Hardware and Imaging BMO Capital Markets, Rob Sethre, CEO Woodford Group, Charles LeCompte, President Lyra Research, and Shannon Cross, Managing Director IT Hardware and Imaging Technology Cross Research.

Someone from the audience asks about HP Edgeline.

The panel does not hold back.

Phrases like,

"...the Edgeline has had no success at all..."

and proven to be an "objective failure" or HP is at best "...persistent at their failure..." seem to echo off the dark blue velvet back drop.

Of course, it didn't help that HP just announced the "relocation" of Edgeline R/D from Vancouver to Singapore. No, that did not help at all.

Edgeline falls within in IPG so the discussion blossoms once again with phrases like,

"...IPG is getting decimated..."

because "...Hurd is now focusing on IPG...trimming the fat..." so IPG can be "...more nimble..." especially when "...there is no more growth coming from the cash-cow..."

As bad as all this is, and deservedly so, there is a silver lining of sorts. It is expressed that no other firm in the world would be able to absorb such a disappointment. Additionally, it was commonly believed that HP will "do something" to get into and ultimately dominate the copier market.

As for suggestions on how HP could do just that - Shannon Cross in a wonderfully abrupt and direct manner clearly stated,

"HP should buy Canon."

She followed up with, "they should buy Xerox...but there would be dominance issues." I believe alluding to the monopolistic aspects of such an occurrence.

HP Should Buy Canon - that is the take away from this session.

An acquisition like this would allow HP to own outright, their laser engines and give them some sort of foothold in the copier industry. But, in light of the relative strength and dominance Ricoh will soon have in the industry, the question has to be, does HP have enough guts to get into the fray?

If only HP had a gutsy-type guy at the helm...

UPDATES:

The Death of the HP CM8060 with Edgeline Technology has been Greatly Exagerated

Canon - Taking Hits

Canon of Japan, the world's largest digital camera maker, reported a sharp fall in quarterly profit Wednesday and predicted a two-thirds decline this year, hit by slumping demand for cameras and office equipment and a stronger yen.

"A substantial recovery in the economy is unlikely in 2009. Our operating environment will be even harder this year than it was last year," Masahiro Osawa, Canon's senior managing director in charge of accounting, said at a news conference.

Canon is under attack by a "triple threat" - low demand for camera's, the yen, and Ricoh. The first two, low demand and the yen, effect everyone. Ricoh, because of the acquisition of IKON, has the ability to bend the bullet right at Canon's copier segment.

Lyra Symposium 2009 - Quick Follow Up

The drive down was unexceptional; snow after an hour, still clinging to the roof of the Rover. "You have snow on your car..." says the valet-girl, "yeah, I thought it would melt by now," I respond. 

A quick walk to the registration desk - "Good morning." she greets, "Greg Walters...", I reply. "oh...you're The Death of the Copier guy!" she says. "yes, I am that guy..." Jennifer and Irene greet me and make me feel right at home - right then and there, I decide this is going to be a good show. 

I was not disappointed. 

Walkthrough the door, grab a coffee (coffee flavored coffee) and some fruit and collect my thoughts for the day. This is a show, a symposium, a collection of people with the same interests, here to learn and connect. 

A most human characteristic. 

First, I meet Brian from Lexmark - 13 years with the company, an engineer. A great guy. We talk about the weather here in Palm Springs versus Kentucky - they get ice, we get sun. 

Two gentlemen from WE Soft, Johnson Cheng, General Manager, and Victor Poon, Vice President come in and share a corner of our table. We all chat about this and that and then they ask me what I do...I simply hand them my card, "The Death Of The Copier...I know you, I've been to your site." I must admit, I am flattered and a bit embarrassed every time somebody recognizes my site. 

Cary Kimmel, from WE Soft, joins us while I am handing out cards. He reads, and then gives me "the look" -

"Hey, I am trying to get people into this market, not scare them away. What the heck are you talking about, the death of the copier?" - Cary Kimmel

So it's official, I am in the room for less than 30 minutes, and already defending the name of my blog.

Honestly, I never did "defend" the name, I simply explain - and when a "copier" person thinks about it, I know they get it. I am, after all, a copier guy. Since 1988, I have been to so many shows, symposiums, conventions, I have forgotten more than I remember - the Lyra Symposium kept me awake and attentive during every single presentation. The presentations were engaging and moved along - Lyra is a research company, compiling data on all things printing - statistics (the word still gives me the willie's - delayed stress from my days in college). 

Yet, I understood and "kept up" with the "pasta-charts" and financial diction. I met some great people in our industry and had some really good conversations. Over the next few days, I will re-digest my notes and put together hopefully some interesting articles. 

Jim Lyons was clicking away during the presentations - so he has some really good posts right now. Matt Zimmer VP of Sales from Photizo has a good update, here as well.

Canon to Employees - "Go Home - Make babies..."

"We can go home early and not feel ashamed." - Canon employee, Miwa Iwasaki.

Canon headquarters, along with 1,300 other Japanese companies, are forcing employees to go home early and work on improving the current national birth rate of 1.34. A birth rate of 2.0 is considered "passing".

With an average 12 hour work day going home at 5:30 is going home early for most Japanese workers. On it's own, forcibly being sent home early, is indeed a treat, but being told to go home and make babies - huh?

"Canon has a very strong birth planning program," says the company's spokesman Hiroshi Yoshinaga. "Sending workers home early to be with their families is a part of it."

HP Edgeline, Hawk? Layoffs for 200 - Moving Edgeline to Singapore...

Reported yesterday in the Columbian.com, HP is continuing it's downsizing of the Vancouver location and according to the article, "scraping its Edgeline team".

HP “is shifting prototype testing, as well as some work on research designs, engineering specifications and drawings, abroad, including to Singapore,” according to U.S. Department of Labor documents. This inkjet lab move will affect at least 52 Vancouver employees, a labor official said.

"Similar work done by HP’s Vancouver-based Edgeline Development and Operations Group will also move overseas, according to other documents. This will affect at least 93 Vancouver employees, who work for HP and for 15 related contract staffing agencies, the Labor official said..."

It doesn't look like Edgeline will go the way of the Hawks - but could OPS VARs be nervous?


UPDATE:

The Death of the HP CM8060 with Edgeline Technology has been Greatly Exagerated

Click to email me.

From Hybrid Dealer to "Galactic-Hybrid" - The World is Not Enough

Do You Keep Canon, Flip to Ricoh or is there somenthing more...?

2009

IKON customers and independent dealers: what say you?

The Three Prospectives:

Customer: After exhaustive demo's, painful presentations of one copier rep after another, a dizzying amount of contract analysis, and final negotiations, you settle on a slightly more expensive, Canon copier fleet, provided by IKON.

Today you find yourself in the 2nd year of a three year agreement and your IKON rep wants to "move" you into a Ricoh.

Independent Dealer: You weren't around for the IKON/Alco Standard days, so you worked directly with Canon or Ricoh or maybe Sharp or Toshiba - over the years, you competed with Xerox, RBS, CBS, IKON and all the rest. You hesitantly moved from analog to digital, and heard all the "hoopla" around Electronic Document Management and "Solution Sales".

When Global came around you said, "no thanks...". You hired solid technicians who knew their way around belts and rollers and fusers and corona wires like nobody else. You delivered and set up copiers, and plugged them into the network - letting your client's "IT Guy" take care of the scanning and print drivers.

You remained true to the hardware.

As time moved forward, your collection of customers provided a steady stream of business - the owner often made sales calls.

RiKon Account Exec, Sales Person, et el: September of 2006 you closed and installed a small fleet of Canon copiers, 5020's and a 105.

Today, the agreement is within the 12 month renewal window, is part of your upgradable MIF and therefore used to calculate your yearly goal. You have always conducting your quarterly customer reviews, your service technicians have always been on time, and every service call has been a "one call, closed ticket" call.

Your customer's invoice has never been wrong, and overages have always been correct. Your customer and your crack Professional Services team toiled for months connecting the Canons to their legacy AS-400 system and getting the 105 to talk to the marketing department's Apple's.

Your customer loves Canon; but you don't sell Canon anymore, do you? And one more thing, nobody WANTS to buy a new copier but EVERYBODY wants to know more about this thing called Managed Print Services.

Also, this time around, your are setting down and talking with "the guy from IT"- not to discuss Documentum or KOFAX , you are talking about leasing, buyout amounts, and educating him on CPC and all of his overage charges.

This "IT guy" has five flat panel displays at his desk; one shows his network traffic, three are filled with custom built spreadsheets, he analyzes everything down to the granular level, the fourth screen is filled with WoW.

With a double click, he proudly shows you his "Copier Analysis Spreadsheet" - no less than 12 vendors names fill the first column, there are 23 columns of "decision criteria" - and this was one of your MIF accounts.

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It hasn't even been a year since the announcement of the Ricoh/IKON deal but the merger looks like it is working without too many hitches. There may be some "internal" challenges, but the systems appear to be working as it was before the assimilation.

Today, Canon/Ikon customers are considering three alternatives: finding a good Canon service provider, sticking with IKON, or moving to another manufacturer - Konica/Minolta, Toshiba, Xerox, etc - all very good hardware choices.

There is more - the tumbling economy presents an opportunity for companies, with the help of Selling Professionals, to cut cost like never before.

The opportunity to redefine a costly, inefficient purchasing process by sweeping away the old and establishing a new more holistic approach to implementing print fleets and reducing the number of pages copied.

So while Canon/IKON customers evaluate their position and options, trying to figure out how to maintain their fleets, I suggest one more alternative - re-evaluate the Customer-Copier Dealer relationship in TOTAL.

Ask a simple question,

Who says companies EVEN NEED copiers today?

We know who: Ricoh, Xerox, Canon, Konica Minolta, Sharp, Toshiba, Oce, Samsung and Kyocera that's who and for obvious reasons.

Sure, you may need a device or two that can copy documents coming from outside the organization - but how many of us, in the commercial world, still assemble anything more than a stapled document?

When speaking with current Canon customers, I suggest taking a deep breath and appraising the existing print fleet, print flows, printing structure, hard costs, soft costs AND the relationship with the current equipment supplier - are they a vendor or are they a Partner?

Additionally, observe the existing fleet through a prism of absolute need. Asking, "...do I need a copier here...? - back to basics.

This may seem foolish to some, bold to others, but at no other time in the last 20 years has a opportunity to change the model on such a fundamental level been presented: Back To The Beginning.

The New Born "Elephant in the Room" - Managed Print Services

The single goal of MPS engagements is to lower costs associate with printing - primarily achieved by reducing images printed and machines in field.

The days of an "assessment" leading to new hardware are fading fast, if not gone completely.

So one may ask, "...if a Managed Print Service engagement will reduce the number of copiers, how can a copier manufacturer approach Managed Print Services in an upfront manner...?"

The answer is complex. It starts with the definition of MPS or more specifically, who is defining MPS.

For now, the basic response is because copier companies are the only ones in a position to understand Managed Print Services - either as an ally or a foe.

Your Prospective:

Customer: Your choice is simple, the ramifications huge. Do you opt for more of the same, or get back to basics and boldly go forward in revolution?

Independent Dealers: Are you in or are you out?

Once again, your "days are numbered" - word of your demise is greatly exaggerated. As an independent, your are in the best position to profit from the turmoil. It takes commitment. It takes money. It takes vision, and you will need to burn your ships at the shore, again.
RiKon Account Exec, Sales Person: Do you stay with RiKON, jump over to Canon or join a smaller, more appreciative dealer? (Or do you go sell pharms.)

You have alternatives too - and there really aren't any "bad" choices.

Sales People in the Industry: The terrible economy will not last forever, and with all turmoil and upheaval, opportunity abounds on a personal level. Now is the time to evaluate your unique personal position in the world - to find who truly helps you for you, not for the corporate bottom line.

The Rikon deal, challenging economy, socialistic skewing of capitalism, all influence choices - "should I stay or should I go?" or maybe a more apropos statement is "...nobody moves, nobody gets hurt..."

Click to email me.

Blogging for Print - "The Printed Blog"

Has Blogging come full circle or is this one last gasp of air before print media sinks into the depths of oblivion...

A new site described as "...the best of the Web on your Newsstand..." - what the heck is a "Newsstand"? has popped up from heart of Silicon Valley.

From the site:

"Blog Driven Publishing is Born!

The Printed Blog is the world's first daily newspaper comprised entirely of blogs and other user generated content.

The result is a revolutionary newspaper that reads and functions like a web feed - yet can still be enjoyed on the train or spread across the breakfast table, for an uninterrupted, pleasurably tactile experience..."

The phrase, "...pleasurably tactile experience..." intrigues.

It is my opinion that this one issue, "touching", is the primary reason we humans read books and newspapers - this primal process involves and evokes human touch. After all, reading is just story telling in our head - and story telling is the third most primal, human characteristic in existence.




As the number of players in the newspaper industry continues to dwindle, blame placed squarely at the feet of those "citizen journalists",news aggregators and Google, can it be possible that the newspaper of the future will be a collection of blogs, articles and tweets printed on recycled paper, twice a day?

"The ghost of Gutenberg has returned to live in San Francisco, only to die laughing. I repeat, old is new. Prepare to meet thy past." - Simon Jenkins, here.

Xerox - No Surprises - Earnings Below Expectations, Blames the Yen...

Sales of printers and other hardware plunged 15 percent as companies cut technology budgets. Customers are cutting orders and distributors are reducing inventory, Mulcahy said.

Late last year Xerox announced a restructuring plan that included about 3,000 job cuts, aimed at saving $200 million in 2009.

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.

"In the fourth quarter, the continued weakening economy and rapid shift in exchange rates put pressure on the business," said Anne Mulcahy, chairman and chief executive officer. "Despite this challenging marketplace, we delivered $265 million in adjusted net income for the quarter and $985 million for the year."

"We continue to prioritize cash and productivity to give us flexibility in this uncertain environment," she added. "Our fourth-quarter restructuring will deliver $200 million in savings this year. And, last year we generated $1.7 billion in adjusted cash from core operations. We believe our strong balance sheet and disciplined approach to cost reductions strengthen our ability to effectively manage through these tough economic times."

The movement of the Yen, in just the last six weeks of the year, effected the reduction in margins - the movement was so quick, that the traditional action of pricing increase could not keep up. This dynamic resulted in 50% of the 10% downshift in margin.

Xerox MIF up 4% in December and an increase in color pages could not overcome negatively "currency" issues which sliced into revenues .

During 2008, Xerox Global Services generated $3.5 billion in annuity revenue, a 3 percent increase over 2007.

Full statement here. (PDF)
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Summary

All in all, Xerox took hits due to global economic forces. Activity was only down compared to historical data - actual new color pages printed increase 18%(compared to an increase of 25% last year).

Also, shrinking orders from distribution, effected overall performance, although MIF increased by 4%.

And because, like all copier models, new agreements equate repeatable revenues/cash flow, etc, the big X is doing fine.

We should all be worried when Xerox starts to report a increase in defaulted agreements - meaning their customers are going out of business.

More Screens, More Productivity - How About This?

Jim Lyons mentioned how employee productivity increases if they use dual screens, as much as 44%. I wonder how much productivity would increase with this?

 

Check this:

Minority Report - Who Needs Paper?

Microsoft, Google - Join Intel, Lexmark with Bad News and Staff Reductions

Microsoft

"Our financial position is solid ... but it is also clear that we are not immune to the effects of the economy," Chief Executive Steve Ballmer wrote to employees in a letter. "Consumers and businesses have reined in spending, which is affecting PC shipments and IT expenditures."
Microsoft will be eliminating 5,000 job with 1,400 going immediately, the rest over 18 months.

Microsoft's staggered elimination of 5,000 jobs -- 1,400 immediately and the rest over 18 months.

Lexmark

The economic slump prompted customers to rein in spending, hurting demand for printers. Lexmark has already trimmed about a 10th of its workforce in two years to cope with slowing orders and competition from market leader Hewlett-Packard Co. The new job cuts are aimed at saving $50 million a year.

“We saw weaker-than-expected market demand for both hardware and supply,” Chief Executive Officer Paul Curlander said.

Google

Google said fourth-quarter profits fell 68 percent to $382 million ($1.21 per share), from $1.2 billion ($3.79) a year ago.

Much of the decline was attributed to a $1.09 billion charge for soured investments in wireless provider Clearwire and in the AOL Web portal. A settlement over copyright infringement with book publishers added $95 million in costs.

Intel

After reporting its first quarterly loss in 22 years, Santa Clara computer chip maker Intel on Wednesday said it will lay off at least 5,000 employees and shut five manufacturing plants.

AMD

AMD reported its ninth straight loss as PC sales slow, then stall, and finally fall.

HP - $8.3 Billion in Earnings - E.P.S. up to $3.25 from $2.68

"Fiscal 2008 was a strong year with some notable accomplishments ... We have prepared HP to perform well and are building a company that can bring meaningful value to our customers and stockholders for the long term," Hurd wrote. "Looking ahead, it is important to separate 2008 from 2009, and acknowledge the difficult economic landscape."

The annual report revealed the following:

* Revenue growth of 13 percent, to $118.4 billion
* $8.3 billion in net earnings
* Earnings per share of $3.25, up from $2.68 in 2007

Additionally, Hurd earned $42.5 million in 2008, according to the company's proxy statement, released Tuesday.

Earnings preview: Xerox seen posting tough 4Q Associated Press, 01.21.09, 02:56 PM EST

Xerox Corp. is set to report earnings for the fourth quarter on Friday ahead of the opening bell.

The following is a summary of article over at Forbes.

Xerox announced a large restructuring during the quarter, saying it would cut 3,000 jobs, or 5 percent of its work force, on top of the 1,500 jobs the company already shed in 2008.

Xerox expects the new round of job cuts to save $200 million in 2009.

On average, analysts expect fourth-quarter earnings of 34 cents per share on revenue of $4.72 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters. Analysts typically exclude one-time charges from their projections.

Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore sees companies continuing to skimp on IT spending because of economic uncertainty.

"We continue to believe printing and copying are the most discretionary purchases within IT budgets and corporations are likely to continue reducing/delaying equipment purchases," he told investors in a recent client note.

On the other hand, Whitmore said "modest" revenue from the company's "post-sale" business - sales of ink and other equipment to customers who already own Xerox printing and copy machines - should help offset weaker hardware sales.

Post-sale revenue accounts for about three-quarters of overall revenue for Xerox.

The Death of Print Continues -

2009


Borders may get kicked off the NYSE, Newsweek and Time are writing "news for smart people", Google closes down its print ad program and The New York Times is getting an economic stimulus package from a Mexican.

You can not make this stuff up.


Borders Book Stores received a letter December 31st, warning that if the publicly traded company can't get their stock price above ONE DOLLAR in six months, the company will be delisted. Borders stock fell below $1 December of 2008.

Time and Newsweek are generating smaller, more serious, more opinionated and more liberal publications.

They are targeting a narrow niche of readers, in print and on the Web, and not writing for the masses.

With cut backs and layoffs, the old levels of editing and degree of fact checking do not exist in today's lean, mean survival culture.

And finally, Mexican mogul(huh?), Carlos Slim, is kicking down $250 million to the Gray Lady, which could make him the largest shareholder of the New York Times.

The hot-cash-injection will be used to refinance existing debt and will provide the company with increased financial flexibility.

Carlos, started his empire in the cigarette business, moving into telecommunications, taking control of Mexico's state-owned telephone monopoly.

"He transformed a state-owned company into one of the most profitable businesses in the country," said analyst Jose Coballasi of Standard & Poor's in Mexico City.

He is considered the second richest man in the world.

And this just in, Google has announced that it will be closing Google Print Ads as of March 31st.

The service launched in November 2006 was to deliver the client base of Google Adwords to the print industry. Google was able to attract 50 or so newspapers to the program.

In an effort to evade the slings and arrows of the few remaining newspaper owners Google released this:

"We believe fair and accurate journalism and timely news are critical ingredients to a healthy democracy. We remain dedicated to working with publishers to develop new ways for them to earn money, distribute and aggregate content and attract new readers online. We have teams of people working with hundreds of publishers to find new and creative ways to earn money from engaging online content. AdSense, DoubleClick, Google Maps, YouTube, Google Earth, Google News and many other products are a part of our significant investments to innovate in this space.

These important efforts won’t stop. We will continue to devote a team of people to look at how we can help newspaper companies. It is clear that the current Print Ads product is not the right solution, so we are freeing up those resources to try to come up with new and innovative online solutions that will have a meaningful impact for users, advertisers and publishers."