Lexmark International Inc will ship its mass market Color Jetprinter 2050 at the end of this month. And this time around the Lexington, Kentucky-based group will be up against its estranged IBM Corp parent. Following the division’s spin-out from IBM , Lexmark was left to battle on alone with only a five-year supply contract and debt of over $1bn, and there were many that saw little chance of the group’s survival (CI No 2,966). But the group confounded the skeptics by getting its business with IBM down to what marketing director Kevin Spinks described as a very manageable level, and has forecast a 20% jump in revenue for this fiscal year to about $2,500m. Lexmark reckons it has about 16% of the non-retail market; the remainder is claimed by Hewlett-Packard Co with the lion’s share at 37%, the Epson Corp subsidiary of Seiko Epson Co with 34% and Canon Inc with 11%. Lexmark’s latest offering is intended to break new ground for the company in the mass-market retail sector, which it th inks will account for about 50%, up from its current 38% share, of the total printer market by the turn of the century. Along with the basics of actually getting ink down on paper, the 2050 comes with a free CD-ROM package enhance and simplify the production of documents, all for about $400. It will print T-shirts and greetings cards, create cartoons and certificates and even comes complete with video that takes users through the installation procedure – though one would imagine only quite use ful if the user lacks the proficiency to get the CD-ROM working in the first place. It has 600 by 600 dots-per-inch four-color print quality and a new Super Sharp Waterproof Ink cartridge with pigmented ink for a more precise dot placement – Lexmark claims that if the ink is not waterproof it is likely to soak into the paper and fade away. But now the five-year supply contract has expired, IBM has made good its threat to re-enter the mass printer market in direct competition with its offspring (CI No 2,936). Spinks said Lexmark’s reaction was one of surprise and incredulity, rather than worry. It’s fair to say we’re slightly peeved, he said. We don’t understand why IBM would sell off its technology and knowledge base, only to try to muscle its way back in as soon as the five years are up. And while Spinks is ready to admit the company will lose out in some instances to those that will always buy IBM, it doesn’t worry us, he said, it’s the likes of HP and Canon we’ve got to look out for.
