The Cliff is Here: Your Print Volume is Never Coming Back

This week, concern over China and technology on two fronts – printers and TikTok.  

Ninestar, a global remanufacturer of toner cartridges, acquired Lexmark, the IBM printer spin-off, in 2016, and is spending $180 million to buy more of the company from two capital investment firms. After this outlay, Ninestar will own 54% of Lexmark.

There are rumors suggesting Ninestar may be in the market to unload Lexmark as it delves deeper into manufacturing automotive and other chips.  The company announced the creation of a chip manufacturing company, Geehy Semiconductor, with hopes of producing for the automotive industry.

Although a few eyebrows peaked when Ninestar assimilated Lexmark, a majority of our industry simply worried about cloned toner cartridges.  This blasé attitude was not universal and soon suspicions bubbled up.

A 2019 DoD Department of Defense audit revealed, “…that the U.S. Army and Air Force had spent more than $30 million on thousands of … printers for use on Army and Air Force networks despite these devices having known cybersecurity risks.

It also referenced twenty cybersecurity vulnerabilities …listed by the National Vulnerability Database from 2001 to 2017, including using plain text to store and transmit sensitive network passwords and a weakness that allowed for the enactment of malicious code… As stated in the report, “These vulnerabilities could allow remote attackers to use a connected Lexmark printer to conduct cyber espionage or launch a denial-of-service attack on a DoD network…”

To be fair, many output devices possess security shortcomings. This story has legs unless the censers have their way.  Read more here and here.

The paperless office is closer than ever before, but nothing we haven’t been preaching for the last decade and a half.  But is this the cliff?  Data and observations clearly illuminate, but is there a recovery?  Our friends from All Associates chime in.

This week the Internet Relay Chat includes: 3D printing in metal, Canon attempts to harmonize with the work from anywhere chorus, Xerox wins big MPS, but its stock receives a ‘d+’ rating, and quiet quitting is fashionable.

It’s a great week, go sell something!

TikTok: Too Dangerous, Too Successful, or Both?

You know the story; the People’s Republic of China owns TikTok.  It is true.  You have also heard the application retains data about you, your movements, online tendencies, and activity.

Get ready to hear more about security flaws in the application as companies like Meta and Google start to fling poo in TikTok’s general direction.  At the heart of the story is poor end-user engagement for both Alphabet and Meta, “While TikTok users spend a collective 200 million hours on the app each day, Instagram users spend only 18 million hours within its Reels feature, despite Instagram having more total users.” Yikes.  

The establishment is upset and ready to use any tool in the box to discredit and bring down TikTok – interesting capitalism vs. communism microcosm.  

Read the story, here.

More Evidence that Paper output is falling off a cliff.

We have been talking about it for years.  Since the seventies, the paperless office has been a mirage.  

Not until the office became people less did we approach paperless.  The standard for a decade has been, “We’ll never go paperless, we’ll use less paper.” And “The office will go paperless the day after your bathroom goes paperless.” Well, I know not everyone has a bidet, but there are paperless bathrooms.

Regardless, studies are coming out revealing massive reductions in print and copy.  The numbers are huge.  What is more, there are rumors of a decrease of 47% in office print output – during the last twelve.

It is no surprise that OEMs are seeing global shipments down. There is no denying the shift from wood to cloud is at full tilt.  

Read more here.

Telepresence 

In January 2021, Xerox purchased an augmented reality, remote service package, CareAR.  

“With CareAR™ software, remote agents and experts can virtually see the situation and visually guide a solution using a suite of augmented reality tools via desktop, mobile, and smart glass devices, as if they were in-person.”

Simply put, a remote service technician wearing specially equipped glasses sends video back to the home office while the resident expert assists while viewing the situation live and remote.

Lenovo just entered a collaboration with CareAR that will provide “… live remote assist interactions, self-guided 3D instructions, and intelligent insights for empowering employees and field technicians with contextual problem-solving capabilities.”Read about it, here.

Building trust is the key – and you know this.  The first seven seconds is all you have to make a good first impression and consistently following up builds trust. 

I caught up with a couple of sales gurus out of the copier industry – these two took what they learned about selling and never looked back.  Check out this short, yet informative coaching session.

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ConnectWise holds a demo-rama – The ConnectWise PitchIT Accelerator Program pits MSP against MSP in an extensive, 16-week competition.  Contestants perform a needs assessment, construct an approach, and pitch their idea. The three finalists will present center stage at IT Nation Connect the winner walks away with a $70,000.00 grant.  Not too shabby. Read more, here.

Your Techs Can Sell – Bring a technician on your next big sales call.  

They do not simply ‘twist wrenches,’ they help your customers get out of an unpleasant situation. And in doing so, establish rapport, credibility, and trust. 

“This dynamic can be strained beyond the rival level, delving into hostile competitiveness. Yet, even with this friction, the Sales and Service squads are on the same team – colleagues tasked to find and keep customers resulting in predictable revenue, managed costs, and expanding profit.”  

Read more, here.

The IRC, Internet Relay Chat – 

• HP Prints metal, in 3D.
• Canon serenades the work-from-home movement with Harmony.
• Xerox won managed print services deal away from Canon, in Maine.
• Xerox stock is rated down from ‘c-‘ to ‘d+’.
• Quiet quitting is all the rage.