Zogby Poll Shows People Think Printing Color is a Luxury

Duh...

In a very well crafted "Social Network Release"(here) from Xerox some of the results, in actuality four points, from a Zogby poll are embedded among marketing puffery.

Xerox doesn't come out and say that the Zogby poll reflects the Phaser as a cost effective alternative, but to the untrained or unaware eye, the post "feels" like Zugby respondents prefer the Phaser.

There is even a quote at the end of the post, praising the ease of use, excellent quality and crediting the color printer with "winning quite a few more bids" - I guess the Death of The Sales Person hit the catering business first.

Regardless, here are the stats from the Zogby poll, as filtered by Xerox:

-More than half of the 2,100 respondents (53%) said they think printing in color is a luxury.

-More than one third of respondents said the expense (35%) is the main reason they did not print more in color, and four out of five (82%) said they would be somewhat or very likely to print in color if it cost the same as black and white.

-Two in five respondents (39%) did not recognize the ROI value of printing in color – they strongly or somewhat disagreed that they spend time thinking about the places in their documents where color would give them more of a ROI.

-About one-quarter of respondents said they most frequently print presentations/PowerPoint documents (28%) or those with graphs (25%) in color.

Ricoh and DocuClass - "...Solutions Driven by Customer Need and not Industry Hype..."

First Copy Out Time's and Scan Once, Print Many are Phrases of the Past...

Ricoh introduces DocuClass-

DocuClass, is a process-oriented, document management software solution that enables organizations to streamline internal operations by organizing the capture, management, access, and distribution of documents and information.

Enhanced for Ricoh, the DocuClass MFP Link ties the software directly to most Ricoh multifunction products (MFPs), offering a simplified method of document indexing, archiving, document processing, workflow routing and full version control directly from the MFP control panel.

What About the Channel -

One of three Ricoh Alliance programs, RiSVP, developed in cooperation with Ricoh solution partners and Ricoh's direct and dealer channels, focuses on two key areas: expansion of channel marketing opportunities for RiSVP members and simplifying solution access for Ricoh sales channels.

By providing RiSVP member products directly from Ricoh, the direct and dealer channels have more opportunities for new revenue growth combined and simplified sales operations.

In turn, RiSVP members enjoy faster and greater financial return on the investments they have made in developing solutions that when combined with Ricoh's award-winning product portfolio address customers' key concerns. Cima Software is a Platinum Plus member of RiSVP.

"Together with Cima Software, we will continue to provide customers with real enhanced value by delivering a broad set of capabilities designed to improve business processes and reduce operational costs," said Hede Nonaka, executive vice president, Ricoh Americas Corporation. "Both organizations are committed to developing solutions driven by customer need and not industry hype."

"Form Follows Function": Is Samsung Positioned in HP's Blind Spot?

"You can have any color you like, as long as it's black..." - Henry Ford

Jim Lyons picked up on Samsung and the possibility of them nudging into the office MFP market as reflected in an article over at Business Week, Samsung:Rethining the Printer Business, by Cliff Edwards.

Additionally, Robert Sethre from the Woodford Group goes on to analyze the article in his contribution at GLG, The Expert Network.

In the past 60 days, I have heard more about Samsung as a printing/MFP provider, than I have in the last 20 years.

First off, Samsung is well known for its line of consumer electronics especially for their attractive and sleek design of everyday, mundane household appliances.

The thought, and the practice, can be seen in the above laser printer. The design is completely different from any other output device. "Lacquer" finisher, touch controls interesting shape.

And as Jim poses in his article, what if Samsung applied this style to "higher end departmental printers". I have often wondered who decided office machines needed to be drab and unattractive - disengaging.

From the "big green" Oce's, the "blue hooded Xerox's", the Ricoh/Canon sorta-beige and the battleship grey of Konica/Minolta and HP - couldn't we just spray paint some flames on the side?


The closest thing to an exciting, eye-catching application is from Panasonic with their colorful, color MFPs. Is that like coffee flavored coffee? (ADULT LINK)

Though one could make the argument that the Panasonic resembles the Daleks on Dr. Who, and I have yet to see one in the field. I imagine a real estate office or small advertising agency may find the physical color of the unit part of their buying criteria.

Samsung printer designer Bong Uk Lim is promoting something new- a printer that doesn't look like one.

"Most companies ask people to adapt to the product instead of the other way around," Lim says. "As you see with Apple, design is more important than ever before for most products. The same can be made true for printers."

Regardless, is Samsung looking to step into the office printing niche?

Samsung is the second largest manufacturer of laser printers in the world - next to that "other" company - but manufacturing prowess may not prevent them from "stepping into it" when they take on HP, Canon, Ricoh/IKON, et el.

And in typical, HP, battleship gray style, upon hearing of a possible Samsung insurgence, David Murphy, head of HP's LaserJet imaging business, says most of the industry's profits come from selling to businesses ...

"For them, it's about the whole value proposition of having a product that does the tasks you want it to,then, form follows function."

Bad Day ? Take it out on your Printers and Copiers

Xerox Tightens The Belt - Putting the Links in Storage for a Year

The big X isn't even sponsoring golf this year.

With earnings report out in a couple of weeks, Xerox is making news again as rumors of layoffs persist.

Xerox was one of the first companies to recognize the somber economic environment and took steps to address by offering 5% of its workforce separation packages - if not enough people take the package, forced layoffs may ensue.

Some of those layoffs could come before fourth quarter earnings are announced later this month.

Xerox is reportedly working on reducing its costs by $400 million, through consolidating manufacturing and other real estate.

In related news, after four years, Xerox allowed it's title-sponsorship contract at the Irondequoit Country Club to expire.(Apparently, there was no automatic renewal for another 30 days or 4 years)

The Xerox Classic will be taking at least a year off.

Don Jeffries of the Rochester Broadway Theater League, the tournament organizer, said,

"With the economic times the way they are, they(Xerox) just couldn't put up money to sponsor a tournament."

HP To Stop Selling in Iran - Power of The Press

The Globe Report get's a response:

In a statement released last Thursday, HP said, "Having recently examined the situation, we believe it's important to go beyond the letter of the law,"

HP is responding to an article published last week in the Boston Globe which "exposes" the company's practice of selling printers in Iran.

In reality, this is not the case.

HP provides its product to a distributor, Redington Gulf in Dubai who in turn sells to dealers all over the mid-east. No doubt some of the dealers are in Iran.

In addition to HP, Redington distributes Acer, Cisco, Linksys, APC, IBM, 3COM and many other technology products.

A statement posted on Redington Gulf website -

Holding Statement in response to the Boston Globe article

Redington Gulf is an authorized distributor and an authorized service provider in Middle East & Africa, for HP brand, amongst other brands of global repute. We sell authorized products, to HP authorized customers, in authorized territories, in line with HP’s policy guidelines.

Corporate Communications Team