Lexmark reveals new SME printing range

Lexmark claimed most firms are still running inefficient printing operations as it unveiled its latest line of laser and multifunction printers aimed at small and medium-sized businesses at its annual conference in Lisbon today.

The company also said it is "satisfied" with its OEM relationship with Dell where Lexmark printers are badged and sold as Dell products, despite Dell recently making similar arrangements with other printer manufacturers and concerns that the arrangement impacts some of Lexmark's existing resellers and distributors.

But at the same time, Lexmark CEO Paul Curlander, speaking at the conference, was quick to play down the importance of the Dell partnership. "We are very satisfied with the relationship... but this is not our primary strategy. The OEM business is a very small part of what we do. Our primary goal is to drive the Lexmark brand into corporations."

Curlander also said there are still huge opportunities for businesses to save money by standardising their printing operations. "In general, corporations don't know how many printers they have, how many pages they print and how much they spend running them."

Lexmark unveiled the X422 workgroup multifunction printer and the C752L laser printer range all targeted at SMEs - but in an interview with silicon.com, Eamon Ryan, European VP and general manager of the printing and services division at Lexmark, said the growth area in the UK is in printing services at the high end with large users in the financial services and public sector.

"Three or four years ago it was about functionality and price. Now it is about the total cost of printing and how it affects their processes. It is increasingly difficult to differentiate yourself from another competitor [on hardware]," he said.

Lexmark claims hardware accounts for just 5 per cent of printing costs, with support accounting for 50 per cent and operating costs making up 45 per cent. Ryan said Lexmark can compete on services with Hewlett-Packard through its relationships with most of the major services players in the UK market.

Another issue that will be a priority for Lexmark in Europe and the UK over the next few years is the forthcoming EU Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEE) directive on the disposal and recycling of electronic goods. Ryan said the cost of complying is likely to be “passed on to the consumer” – though for printers he explained this would mean prices would not fall as fast as predicted.

"It is a burden for the whole industry. We've got to start designing our products now so they break down more easily, so parts can be recycled and so we have virtually no hazardous materials in them," he said. "Another point is energy conservation – there are going to be requirements on products by category on how much energy they should consume. We have to get that into our design process now."