The copier industry is constantly evolving, and staying up-to-date with the latest news and information can be crucial for businesses and professionals who rely on these machines for their daily operations. Here are the latest headlines from the Copier Industry:
HP Inc. posts its last quarter’s earnings
- Net revenue down 21.7% to $12.9 billion
- Operating margin down from 7.8% to 5.9%
- Spend on R&D down to $410 million
- Spent $200 million on restructuring
- Net earnings of $1.066 billion
- Total liabilities of $24 billion
- Long term debt of $10.36 billion
- Printing division (MFPs, printers, PPS, etc.) revenue down 5% to $4.7 billion
- Operating margin down to 19%
- Consumer product revenue down 19% to $641 million
- Commercial product revenue up 5% to $1.089 billion
- Supplies revenue down 4% to $3 billion
- Total units down 4%
- Consumer units down 5%
- Commercial units no change
Signs of recession?
- The Federal Reserve reports that the U.S. population’s total credit card debt is now $986 billion, and soon to pass $1 trillion
- Average credit card interest rate of 24%
- Average household has over $10,000 in credit card debt
- WalletHub claims total credit card debt is actually $1.2 trillion as of 1/1/2023
- “Now, because of inflation, people are putting actual necessities, food housing, on their credit card”; reported Jill Gonzalez, senior analyst at WalletHub
- The New York Times reported on latest federal debt ceiling legislation:
- US federal debt is now at $31.4 trillion
- With new legislation, debt will top $50 trillion by end of decade
- In April, 2023, the fed gov paid $460 million just on interest for the debt
- As of May, 2023, the fed debt = $248,041 per taxpayer
- New law removes cap on fed borrowing until January of 2025
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the unemployment rate rose 0.3% to 3.7%, (this number is misleading, as it does not include those that have not filed for unemployment)
- Number of people who filed for unemployment = 6.1 million
- Number of people unemployed who did not file = 5.5 million
- Only 60.3% of the US population is now employed
- For those employed, their paychecks do not go as far:
- “Real hourly compensation, which takes into account consumer prices, fell by 4.7% in 4th quarter of 2002”
- Retail and grocery sales declining:
- Macy’s Department Stores announced that sales shrank 8.7% YoY
- Dollar General Stores also reported profit decrease sending its stock down 19.55%
- Nordstrom Department Stores’s CEO Erik Nordstrom said its wealthy shippers are becoming more restrained.
- Costco’s CFO, Richard Galanti, is reporting that customers are trading down from beef to poultry and pork in recent months.
- Some are even switching to canned food, like chicken and tuna
- Walmart reported that it is seeing an influx of wealthier shoppers trading down to the discount chain in search of low prices in the grocery aisle.
- Banks closing locations:
- PNC Bank announced it is closing 30 locations in Maryland and Virginia
- Also closing 127 in-store locations at grocery stores
- First Republic Bank announced it is closing 21 locations
- Number of ATMs fell from 470,000 to 451,500
- PNC Bank announced it is closing 30 locations in Maryland and Virginia
PrinterLogic has security issues
- Security Week magazine published article how researchers at Seek of Australia found multiple security vulnerabilities in PrinterLogic’s enterprise management printer solution
- The 18 vulnerabilities supposedly cloud allow hackers to:
- Bypass authentication
- Inject code
- Expose credentials
Sharp’s parent to raise pay
- Foxconn, aka Hon Hai Precision of Taiwan and owner of Sharp, is preparing for hopeful surge in Apple iPhone sales later in 2023, as it is the main assembler of Apple products
- Announced it will pay $424 as a new hire bonus for workers at its Zhengzhou, China plant
- Must stay on job for 90 days
- On top of starting salary of $2.97 per hour
- Existing employees get $70.49 for a referral
- In 11/2022, workers at the plant staged violent protests over pay and working conditions, according to Reuters News Service
- The factory is designed to hold 200,000 workers
Solution firm acquired
- SGT Capital announced it has acquired Elatec Inc. of Germany
- Maker of RFID, BLE and NFC badge readers and firmware for secure employee authentication
- Purchase price not announced
Worldwide sales of printers & MFPs up
- Research published by IDC of the total shipments of all printers and MFPs, for home and office use, regardless of printing technology
- Total shipments in first quarter of 2023 are up 2.2% to 22.8 million units
- Marketshare:
- HP = 36.1%
- Canon = 22.3%
- Epson = 18.2%
- Brother = 2.7%
- Others = 15%
- Shipment value up 14% to $11 billion
- US value up 27.7%
Print management solution vendor update
- ThinPrint, headquartered in Denver, CO, launched version 13 with following new features:
- On-premise and private cloud print management software
- For remote and virtual desktop environments
- Supports V4 print drivers
- Hubs, which replace print servers, can be managed in Microsoft Management Console
- Self-guided printing mapping
- Group assignment capabilities
- Security enhancements
Ricoh wins production print contracts
- Award from Impress Advertising Media of Gunter, India
- Installed new Pro C7200X Graphic Arts Edition production color laser and Pro 8310 production b/w system
- Will be used to produce coffee table books, photo albums, pamphlets, brochures, etc.
- Award from Graphic India of Dimapur, India
- Installed new Pro 8300S production b/w laser system
- Will be used to produce materials for local schools, colleges and vocational institutes
- Award from Best Offset of Jodhpur, India
- Installed new Pro C7200X production color laser system
- Will be used to produce marketing materials, brochures, business cards, flyers and leaflets
- Award from Inspackt Packaging of Greater Noida, India
- Installed new Pro C7200X production color laser system
- Will be used to produce cartons fro healthcare, chemicals, logistics and food/beverage companies
- Award from Birtwells Printing of Lancashire, England
- Installed a new Pro C7200 production color laser system
- Will be used to produce forms and other products
Ricoh has new physical security solution partner
- Announced new partnership with Evolv Technology of Waltham, Massachusetts
- Provider of AI-based weapons detection security screening
Kodak Alaris increases scanner distribution
- Announced that it has signed up CoCre8 Technology Solutions
- Will distribute scanners, capture software and professional services
Kodak acquires PPS option company
- Announced it has acquired Graphic Systems Services Inc. of Springboro, Ohio
- Maker of leading-edge paper transport systems
- Will be used for Kodak PROSPER production color inkjet system
Copier dealer merger/acquisition update
- Standley Systems, headquartered in Dallas, TX, announced it has acquired Verity Group, headquartered in Dallas, TX
- Verity is an authorized dealer for Ricoh
- Standley is dealer for HP, Xerox, Ricoh & Kyocera, and covers North Texas and Oklahoma.
Xerox offers new MFP security solutions
- (Xerox sources most of its laser printers, MFPs and PPS from Fujifilm)
- Announced partnership with Trellix Security Solutions (formerly known as McAfee)
- Centralized printer/MFP management of security policies using ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO)
- Also integrates with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE)
- ePO and ISE will inform each other any detected threat to a Xerox device
- Xerox MFPs have built-in Embedded Control whitelisting technology from McAfee
- (Canon also uses McAfee, but in contrast, Konica Minolta’s optional LK-116 uses Bitdefender)
- (Hundreds of millions of systems run Bitdefender security software worldwide, which goes beyond simple whitelisting and uses advanced Artificial Intelligence and other revolutionary technologies to anticipate, detect, and instantly block even the newest threats before they can cause trouble)
Lexmark’s parent brings another brand to USA
- Lexmark is a division of Ninestar of China, which owns other brands of products.
- The brand of laser printers and MFPs Ninestar uses in China, “Pantum”, announced that Image Star, headquartered in Middletown, CT, is now the official distributor for Pantum in the US.
- Image Star is now signing up Pantum dealers in the U.S
- Will provide inventory, distribution and dropship fulfillment for Pantum printers, MFPs and consumable supplies.
- Also provides its Suite Fleet managed print services program
- “Pantum is the first new brand launch in the printing industry in many years and represents a rare blue ocean opportunity for dealers”; stated Philip Crean, CCO of Image Star.
- “We have the experience and capability to build the Pantum brand and scale our sales operations in the U.S.”; stated Kyan Liao of Pantum
- (currently Pantum only offers A4 engines, so only competes with Lexmark-branded A4s)
Toshiba Tec details on last fiscal year earnings
- Total net sales up 14.7% to $3.8 billion
- Operating profit up 38.8% to $119.2 million
- Workplace Solutions division (printers, MFPs) net sales up 19.5% to $1.6 billion
- Operating profit up 590% to $51.1 million
- Americas revenue up 31.1% to $701.7 million
Xeikon wins production print contract
- Award from HM Document Solutions of Pittsburgh, PA and Jacksonville, FL
- Installed two new SX30000 production color LED systems
- Will be used to produce variable data direct mail pieces
CYBERSECURITY & HEALTHCARE VERTICAL NEWS
Healthcare IT spend to grow
- Research published by Reports and Data
- Total healthcare IT market to reach $752.24 billion by 2032
- CAGR (cumulative annual growth rate) of 13%
Are your healthcare customers ready for change?
- The American Hospital Association research shows that 51% of hospitals are aware of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) and plan to participate in the HIE framework
- (The Konica Minolta Healthcare MFP, is powered by Kno2, which is part of TEFCA, and assists healthcare facilities in sharing PHI in a digital, interoperable format, which will reduce and/or eliminate the need for fax)
- Only one percent of responding hospitals said that they were aware of TEFCA and did not plan to participate.
- 65% of hospitals that participate in one of three national health information exchange (HIE) networks (eHealth Exchange, CommonWell, or Carequality) plan to participate in TEFCA, compared to 18 percent of hospitals that do not participate in national HIE networks.
- “Acknowledging that we are in the early stages of supporting data exchange through TEFCA, these trends, whereby low-resource hospitals are less likely to plan to join TEFCA, give us insight into opportunities for more education and engagement with these hospitals,” Kimberly Tavernia of HHS and Jordan Everson of ONC.
- TEFCA aims to shrink the health IT digital divide by lowering the cost and complexity of interoperability.
Healthcare employment grows
- The total amount of jobs in healthcare vertical grew by 52,000 jobs in May
- Ambulatory care = 24,000
- Acute care = 20,000
- Extended care = 9,000
Healthcare cloud computing solution growth
- Research published by Expert Market Research
- Market size will grow from $37.14 billion to $88.64 billion by 2028
- CAGR (cumulative annual growth rate) of 15.6%
Former Cerner headquarters to be repurposed
- Cerner, the second largest EHR (electronic health records) solution provider in the U.S., was recently acquired by Oracle Corp.
- The former Cerner Continuous Campus in Kansas City, KS, is under purchase contract to be turned into apartments and commercial space.
- The metamorphosis will cost $100 million
eClinicalWorks wins EHR contracts
- Award from Well Primary Care of Texas
- Includes Healow app for patients
- Award from Horizon Health Care Centers of South Dakota
MEDITECH wins EHR contract
- Award from The Bellevue Hospital of Ohio
- Includes the HealtheChart patient portal
HIPAA/cybersecurity breaches in the news
- Albany ENT & Allergy Services of New York has notified 224,486 patients that their PHI may have been exposed after ransomware attack.
- Cleveland Clinic notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after one of its medical billing vendors, MedInform of Ohio, was hit by ransomware.
- Idaho Falls Community Hospital notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Mountain View Hospital of Idaho notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Managed Care of North America, aka MCNA Dental, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL, notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Sports Warehouse, an online sporting goods retailer, will pay $300,000 to settle lawsuit alleging negligence after a breach exposed info on 1 million consumers.
- Marshall Information Services, aka Primary Solutions Inc. of Ohio, notified 7,456 patients that their PHIP was exposed after ransomware attack.
- Anchorage School District of Alaska notified all employees that their PHI was exposed after a laptop computer was stolen.
- Rochelle Perry of Indianapolis, IN, was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly stealing PHI while working for several nursing homes and assist living facilities.
- Rico Prunty of Sierra Vista, Arizona was sentenced to 54 months in prison for stealing PHI while working for a local hospital.
- Enzo Biochem of Farmingdale, NY, notified 2,470,000 patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.
- Medford Radiology Group of Oregon notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.
- Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital of Valencia, CA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was illegally accessed by an employee.
- Clarke County Hospital of Osceola, Iowa notified 28,003 patients that their PHI was exposed after recent cyber attack.
- MUSC Health in Lancaster, South Carolina notified 1,800 patients that their PHI was illegally accessed by an employee.
- Vascular Center of Intervention in Fresno, CA notified an unknown number of patients that their PHI was exposed after cyber attack.
- Toyota notified 260,000 car owners that their info was exposed after cloud storage data leak.