TCPglobal - news, views and issues on total cost of printing

Issue #0813/1 - Lexmark is losing sales and income every quarter with revenue seen to have fallen steadily over the last four years. This month sees the release of the latest financials from the company (Q1, 2008) that reveal a staggering loss of 42% of its inkjet unit sales since the same quarter of last year and an overall decline in revenue of 7% to $1.18bn.

Issue #0813/3 - Although not a scientific survey or test programme, the sale of printers on eBay is a pretty clear indication of the relative desirability of printers from different manufacturers. CharisCo Printer Labs put three inkjet All-in-Ones on eBay, with a fascinating outcome! This offers some insight into why Lexmark’s consumer division is performing so badly, with such a heavy decline in inkjet unit sales.

Issue #0812/2 - Despite our appetite for all things small and portable, when it comes to A4 office printers, portability is something that does not tend to find a major place in the armoury. Portable printers are few and far between and are pricey in comparison to their desktop companions. Canon and Hewlett-Packard’s latest new models, PIXMA iP100 and Officejet H470 respectively, are small fast and capable of printing borderless photos at A4. We check out the needs of the travelling businessman and compare the two devices.

Issue #0811/1 - Colorlok technology is a paper formulation designed to provide bolder blacks, more vivid colours and faster drying time for inkjet printing than standard office papers, with high consistency and quality. So, we put it to the test and found that the differences are marginal and barely worth swapping for – unless you are not using a modern Hewlett-Packard printer or are able to source it at a lower price than your regular paper.

Issue #0809/1 - As part of its major product launch this spring, Hewlett-Packard has announced a raft of tools and resources, including the Marketing Impressions Portal, that are aimed at providing small business with in-house creative marketing tools to enable those businesses to gain more value out of their printers and increase the impact of their marketing materials. This is an integral part of Hewlett-Packard’s “What do you have to say” programme.