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 #0806/1 - Having launched the highly specified entry-level Phaser 6130 colour laser printer in November 2007, Xerox has now added a host-based model to its range – Phaser 6125 – with effective street pricing that knocks the competition off the field. This model bridges the gap between the very low-end four-pass Phaser 6110 and the Phaser 6130 with its PCL6 emulation and Adobe PostScript 3. Note: this article should be read in conjunction with the article "Phaser 6130 - Fuji Xerox challenger to new Samsung CLP-350N" in TCPglobal Issue #0736.

Issue #0806/2 - Following the 6.4% increase in supplies pricing by Lexmark UK in January, Hewlett-Packard announced increases averaging 5.8% for the UK in February, as expected. No changes are made to supplies prices in the Euro-zone.

Issue #0804/1 - Still heading downwards on a slippery slope, Lexmark’s latest financial results show exactly why the company’s strategy needed modifying, suggesting that further action is needed and that there may be some way to go before anyone sees an overall upturn, despite record results in some areas.