Filed under: Blogroll, Industry News, Metawatch News Release | Tagged: firmware upgrade, Lexmark, Remanufactured Cartridges | 2 Comments »
Static Control Wins Appeal
Posted on September 7, 2012 by kflack
- September 07, 2012
SANFORD, N.C. – On August 29, 2012, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals again ruled in Static Control’s favour in the long-running dispute with Lexmark. The Court of Appeals reinstated Static Control’s claims against Lexmark under the Lanham Act and North Carolina state antitrust laws. The Lanham Act claims are for false advertising arising out of Lexmark’s claims that the remanufacturing of Prebate-program cartridges infringed Lexmark’s patents. The antitrust claims arose out of various Lexmark actions to reduce the number of cartridges remanufactured by third parties. The Court of Appeals also rejected Lexmark’s attempts to overturn the jury’s verdict rendered in Static Control’s favor and upheld the trial court’s finding that two of Lexmark’s design patents were invalid.
“When we were sued in 2002, I stated that we were in the first round of a prize fight,” said Ed Swartz, founder and CEO of Static Control. “We have won each round since, and we will win the fight at the end. The jury found for us because what Lexmark did to us was wrong. The Court of Appeals found for us because they agreed.”
This is the second time that the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Static Control’s favour in the 10-year-old fight. In 2004, Static Control appealed a finding that its chips violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, commonly known as the DMCA. The trial court had found that Static Control’s sales of chips, which could communicate with Lexmark’s printers, violated the DMCA. The 6th Circuit reversed the trial court verdict and held that the DMCA could not be used to prevent the use of chips to communicate with printers.
The case now goes to a trial on Static Control’s claims against Lexmark. “We have waited a long time to present our case on why Lexmark’s actions are unfair and illegal,” Swartz said. “Lexmark had their turn at bat, and now it is our inning. We are confident the jury will agree with us and award us the damages we are entitled.”
Filed under: Blogroll, Industry News | Tagged: appeal, DMCA, Lexmark, Static Control | Leave a comment »
Lexmark to dump inkjet printers
Posted on August 28, 2012 by kflack
Lexmark to dump inkjet printers and cut 1,700 jobs.
To close Philippines plant by end 2015
To eliminate inkjet development globally
Aug 28 (Reuters) – Printer maker Lexmark International Inc said it will stop making inkjet printers, cutting about 1,700 jobs, and focus on its more profitable imaging and software businesses.
Lexmark has been phasing out inkjet printers, used by consumers, and focusing on selling more sophisticated laser printers. It has also been beefing up its print services through several acquisitions over the last couple of years.
Revenue from the company’s legacy inkjet hardware business declined 66 percent in the first half of 2012, forcing the company to cut its full-year forecast.
Most printer makers are struggling with falling sales as printing, considered one of the most dispensable parts of a company’s budget, is always the first target of cost cutting.
Rival Xerox Corp cut its full-year profit outlook in July, while Canon Inc trimmed its operating profit fo recast, as the companies braced for tough economic conditions in Europe.
Lexmark laid off 625 employees related to manufacturing of consumer supplies in January.
The company said on Tuesday that it will take a pre-tax charge of $160 million related to the restructuring, with $110 million incurred in 2012, and the remaining in the next three years.
The company also said it is working with its strategic advisors to explore the sale of its inkjet-related technology, adding that it will close its Cebu, Philippines-based plant by 2015.
The company, which expects annual savings of $95 million once the restructuring is complete, also said it would buy back an additional $100 million shares in the second half of 2012.
Lexmark, which had about 13,300 employees worldwide, as of Dec. 31, 2011, said it will continue to provide service, support and aftermarket supplies for its inkjet installed base.
The Perceptive Software business, which Lexmark bought in 2010, provides software and services used to manage documents, workflows, imaging, and other content.
The company also bought Brainware Inc, ISYS Search Software and Nolij Corp earlier this year and added them to its Perceptive Software unit.
The business accounted for nearly 5 percent of second-quarter revenue, up from about 2 percent in the year-ago period
Filed under: Blogroll, Industry News | Tagged: brainware, Canon, laid off, Lexmark | Leave a comment »
Non-branded printer cartridges will save you a bundle
Posted on November 15, 2010 by kflack
Non-branded printer cartridges will save you a bundle
So says one supplier
15 Nov 2010 08:27 | by Andrea Petrou | posted in Business
People that switch from branded inkjet printer cartridges to private label versions could save themselves a bundle of cash, research has found.
In a YouGov survey of 2000 households, for Environmental Business Products, the company found that switching labels could save households a combined £440 million a year.
It also found that the average home gets through 4.85 cartridges a year. Half of those questioned admitted they only ever buy branded cartridges from printer manufacturers such as Hewlett Packard, Epson, Lexmark or Canon.
According to the research, branded cartridges typically cost £30 each, which creates an annual bill of £145.50 – the same as a television licence. It said if buyers of branded cartridges – approximately 10.1 million households – instead bought private label versions from high-street retailers and supermarkets, which are around 30 percent cheaper, they would save £43.65 per household per annum or a combined £440 million. Currently only 18 percent of households exclusively buy private-label versions.
Patrick Stead, founder and chief executive of Environmental Business Products, which -surprise, surprise – supplies private-label cartridges to many high street retailers across Europe said: “When most items in the shopping basket are rising in price, the printer cartridge is one product where there are easy savings to be made, so it is surprising that so many people continue to pay a premium.
“Buying a private-label ink cartridge gives consumers a saving of 25 percent to 35 percent which is very welcome at any time, but especially in the current climate. Once people realise there is no compromise in quality, regardless of misleading propaganda, they’re likely to stick with the cheaper option rather than returning to branded.”
The survey also found that 10 percent of households buy 10 or more cartridges a year, giving a potential saving of £90 each per year, if they switched to compatible cartridges. Additionally 66 percent say a cheaper price is likely to encourage them to switch from printer manufacturers cartridges to retailers’ versions, while 43 percent would be motivated to switch cartridges because of environmental credentials.
Filed under: Blogroll, Industry News, Inkjet Info | Tagged: Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Lexmark | Leave a comment »
HP grabs printer market share
Posted on September 1, 2010 by kflack
The overall printer market saw revenue surge 14 percent in the second quarter to $13.3 billion, according to IDC. Hewlett-Packard continued to gain share.
Among the notable points from IDC:
- IDC expects that the printer market will bounce back through 2010, but competition will heat up.
- Inkjet printers have 66 percent share of the printer market. Meanwhile, inkjet printers posted 14 percent unit growth in the second quarter with 19 million units. That’s the most growth since 2003.
- Laser printers posted the strongest growth with units up 25 percent to 9 million in the second quarter. Monochrome laser printers accounted for 83 percent of the market.
Here’s a look at the standings:
Metawatch, has and continues to recommend only Canon and Epson series of printers as they offer headless inkjet cartridges thereby enabling you to purchase lower cost inkjet supplies.
Their increased robustness of the imbedded heads in their printers also ensure a longer lasting reliability.
Filed under: Blogroll, Industry News, Inkjet Info | Tagged: Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, inkjet printer, Lexmark, market share | Leave a comment »
Lexmark sues 24 cartridge makers over patents
Posted on August 30, 2010 by kflack
Printer manufacturer Lexmark is suing replacement cartridge makers that it says are infringing on its patents.
The Lexington, Ky.-based company on Friday filed a patent infringement complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Both suits accuse 24 companies that import replacement cartridges for Lexmark laser printers of violating 15 patents owned by Lexmark.
Both suits name the same 24 defendants. The ITC complaint–the now-standard venue for taking patent disputes against companies that import goods to the United States–asks that the defendants’ products be banned from import and sale in the States. The federal lawsuit asks for an injunction on sales of the disputed products, as well as monetary damages.
This is not the first time Lexmark has battled the aftermarket-printing industry. In 2003, Lexmark famously tried to invoke the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in an attempt to block a toner refill company from making replacement cartridges for Lexmark products.
Lexmark ultimately lost the case, but it hasn’t been alone in its fight against cartridge makers. Hewlett-Packard has been similarly protective of its patents on ink formulas, filing several lawsuits over the past few years against third-party cartridge refill makers.
Filed under: Blogroll, Industry News | Tagged: Lexmark | Leave a comment »
Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP Japan, and Lexmark to kick off support for UNEP via collaborative ink cartridge collection effort
Posted on March 26, 2010 by kflack
Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP Japan, and Lexmark to kick off support for UNEP via collaborative ink cartridge collection effort
– TOKYO, Japan, March 23, 2010 –
Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP Japan and Lexmark announced today that, as part of their Ink Cartridge Homecoming Project, a collaborative effort to collect used consumer ink cartridges, the six companies would begin making donations to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, HQ: Nairobi, Kenya) on April 1, 2010.
The Ink Cartridge Homecoming Project, launched in April 2008, is a cooperative effort by six print device manufacturers and the Japan Post Group to collect used ink cartridges. The project was started with the belief that companies marketing inkjet printers have a social responsibility to recycle used ink cartridges and should work towards the creation of a recycling-based society through conservation efforts.
Representing a new facet of the Ink Cartridge Homecoming Project, the six companies will provide UNEP with donations to support its various activities targeting such global environmental issues as global warming, climate change, threats to biodiversity, and the efficient use of resources. By providing indirect assistance to UNEP activities, including forest protection and biodiversity conservation, the project will attain a higher level of social significance and take an increasingly active approach in global environmental protection.
Every six months, the Ink Cartridge Homecoming Project will make a donation to UNEP of three yen for every ink cartridge returned to any of the ink cartridge collection boxes installed at 3,639* major post offices and select local government offices across Japan. The first donation period will run from October 2009 to March 2010, with subsequent donations to be made every six months thereafter.
The six companies would like to ask its customers to help promote ink cartridge collection and recycling in an effort to contribute to society through donations to support UNEP’s environmental conservation activities.
The Ink Cartridge Homecoming Project’s UNEP donation activities will be featured at the Ink Cartridge Homecoming Project booth during the Interactive Fair for Biodiversity, which will be held concurrently with the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP10) in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, from October 11 to 29, 2010.
This marks the first time for the private sector in Japan to contribute to environmental conservation activities in the Asia-Pacific region through donations to UNEP, an indication of UNEP’s strong support for the project’s cause and content.
Filed under: Blogroll, Industry News | Tagged: Brother, Canon, collect used incartridges, Dell, Epson, HP, Lexmark | Leave a comment »
Lexmark eyed as a takeover candidate
Posted on March 26, 2010 by kflack
Lexmark eyed as a takeover candidate
Company won’t comment on speculation
By Scott Sloan – ssloan@herald-leader.com
Bank of America has identified Lexington-based Lexmark International as a possible candidate for a leveraged buyout.
The printer maker was one of a handful of companies listed by the bank’s researchers as possible targets for these types of deals, which involve taking on debt to help finance the acquisition.
It’s another in a long series of rumors during the past several years of possible outside interest in buying Lexmark, which develops and manufactures laser and inkjet printers.
Lexmark spokesman Jerry Grasso said the company declines to comment on rumors and speculation, or on its stock.
The company’s stock price has risen dramatically in recent months. In the middle of last year, the stock was hovering around $15 a share. On Tuesday, it closed at $36.82, up 5.53 percent from Monday.
The fact that the stock is trading at its 52-week high makes it attractive.
"These types of deals occur at market tops," said Tom Carpenter, vice president and senior equity analyst at Hilliard Lyons in Louisville.
Carpenter also noted Lexmark has significantly improved its printers during the past couple of years and focused on segments in which people print more.
Lexmark also is attractive, he said, because of the company’s cash reserves, which are about $15 a share. A drawback, though, is the company’s roughly $8 a share of long-term debt.
A great deal of the company’s cash is overseas, and that has prevented Lexmark from bringing it to the United States to finance continued repurchases of its stock, because the company would face certain taxes to bring it back. Carpenter said he doubts the overseas money would be a barrier to the deal because "there are people smart enough to find a way around that."
Carpenter said the biggest barrier might be deciding on a price. He said a 25 percent to 30 percent premium on the stock price "would be a home run for shareholders."
He said any number of private equity firms might be interested in Lexmark. Private equity firms use the money invested by their clients to acquire stakes in other companies.
Before the recession, the number of buyouts of publicly traded companies by private equity firms had risen substantially. Generally, a private equity group operates the company for a time, seeks to make it more efficient and then sells the company or parts of it for a profit. The recession slowed down that movement, but Bank of America analysts noted in their report that the deals might return and be smaller in scope, perhaps less than $10 billion.
Lexmark’s market capitalization is close to $3 billion.
Private equity firms also tend to eye companies with recurring revenue, which Lexmark boasts, Carpenter said. The company has recently announced some major deals to manage printing for large firms, including regional bank BB&T.
"The managed print services wins are very important because they are predictable recurring revenue streams, and investors and private equity firms love recurring revenue," Carpenter said.
The company already has a history with private equity. It was initially owned by a private equity firm — Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Inc. — when it was spun off from IBM in 1991. The company went public in 1995, and the buyout firm sold its last shares in 1998.
Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2010/03/24/1194557/lexmark-eyed-as-takeover-candidate.html#ixzz0jIYxnD9O
Filed under: Blogroll, Industry News | Tagged: ibm, inkjet, Lexmark, takeover | Leave a comment »
An insiders peek at the inkjet market
Posted on February 24, 2010 by kflack
Manufacturers
The top manufacturers of inkjet printers are
Epson, Canon, HP, Dell, Lexmark, and Brother
The inkjet market can be further divided into the cartridge technologies utilized.
Fixed Head with Removable Cartridge.
The print head is a permanent fixture of the printer and is not removable. Cartridges are simply plastic repositories with (electronic registers) for remaining ink measurement.
(Canon and Epson printers fall into this category)
Disposable Head/Cartridge assemblies
The print head is part of the ink cartridge assembly, and is replaced as part of a new cartridge. (Dell, HP, and Lexmark Printers fall into this category.)
Note: HP is transitioning to a fixed head philosophy in many of its newer printer model lines.
Advantages / Disadvantages
(Print Head Replacement)
Although many have said that there is an advantage to replacing the print head assembly with each cartridge change, we, as ink distributors have never seen any degradation in print quality of printers from Canon or Epson printers even after many years of operation
(Third Party Generic Cartridges)
Third party generic Cartridges are only available for printers using a fixed print head. All third party cartridges are simply plastic repositories with (electronic registers) for remaining ink measurement. As this is the area where most cost savings can be identified, we recommend that your selection of printer manufacturer be limited to Canon or Epson.
(Remanufactured Cartridges)
There is a significant third party market that exists for the purposes of Re-cycling integrated Print Head/Cartridge assemblies. They clean and electronically test each re-manufactured cartridge for re-sale. Unfortunately these cartridges suffer from a higher overall reject/failure rate versus that of a new cartridge, and offer little savings versus that of a new original cartridge. These cartridges can be found for the HP, Lexmark, and Dell printers.
Our Recommendations
As we are all aware that the printer manufacturers all follow a Business Strategy first adoptedby Gillette. Offer a product (Razor Handles) at little or no cost and charging a higher rate of return for replacement parts (Razor Blades).
The printer manufactures do the same, offer their printers at cost or below, and then maximize profits via the sale of inkjet replacement cartridges.
You can beat the manufactures at their own game by ensuring that you select a printer/model that offers 3rd party replacement cartridges where you can purchase replacement cartridges at approximately 60%-75% less than New OEM cartridges.
I.E. A full set of replacement cartridges for Canon or Epson Printers are in the order of $22-$32 cdn.
A replacement set of OEM cartridges for an HP printer are in the Order of $80.00.
What if you already have an HP or Lexmark Printer?
Believe it or not we recommend that you purchase a NEW replacement printer (Canon, or Epson) that offer 3rd party cartridge capability.
Yes, that right, you can purchase a New replacement printer, in most cases for less than you can purchase replacement cartridges for an HP, Lexmark, or Dell printer.
Not only do you get a new printer, but the new printer comes with a set of inkjet cartridges (Although normally partially filled).
Typically you can purchase a new Photo or Multifunction printer with Cartridges from Canon or Epson for less than the cost of a set of cartridges from HP, Lexmark or Dell.
I.E. Future Shop has weekly sales for printers such as
Epson All-In-One Multifunction Centre (CX4200)
Curently selling for $69.99 cdn after rebates.
Conclusion
If you have the capability to purchase a new Canon or Epson printer On Sale from a reputable supplier that is supported by 3rd party Inkjet cartridge manufacturers, you will reap the benefits of lower costs cartridges by anywhere from 60-75% savings per purchase.
In effect, you will have saved the cost of the new printer purchase after the first set of cartridges purchased.
Supplementary Information
What are the third party cartridges and models supported for Canon and Epson Printers?
Would you like to find more information out about printer designs and function?
Note: All numeric representations of savings were accurate at the time of publication. As prices are subject to change without notice we can not guarantee these statements will hold true forward in time.
All coments in this blog are personal opinions only and should not in any way be representated as fact(s) or as a statement by Metawatch with respect to product and or quality of independant product suppliers.
Filed under: FAQ, Inkjet Info | Tagged: 3rd party replacement cartridges, Brother, Canon, CX4200, Dell, Epson, HP, Inkjet Printers demystified, Lexmark, plastic repositories, Remanufactured Cartridges, Third Party Generic Cartridges | Leave a comment »
Inkjet News 