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Tag: Xerox

  • Xerox Calls Off Hostile Attempt to Acquire HP

    Xerox Calls Off Hostile Attempt to Acquire HP

    Amid the current health and economic crisis, Xerox has announced it is calling off its attempt to merge with HP.

    Xerox had been attempting to acquire HP since last year, putting in two separate offers. The first offer was unanimously rejected by HP’s board, leading Xerox to increase their offer in February. The company hoped the offer would enable “stockholders to accept Xerox’s compelling offer despite HP’s consistent refusal to pursue the opportunity.”

    With the ongoing global crisis, however, Xerox has ended its hostile takeover attempt. According to a company press release, the current situation has “created an environment that is not conducive to Xerox continuing to pursue an acquisition of HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) (“HP”). Accordingly, we are withdrawing our tender offer to acquire HP and will no longer seek to nominate our slate of highly qualified candidates to HP’s Board of Directors.

    “While it is disappointing to take this step, we are prioritizing the health, safety and well-being of our employees, customers, partners and other stakeholders, and our broader response to the pandemic, over and above all other considerations.

    “There remain compelling long-term financial and strategic benefits from combining Xerox and HP. The refusal of HP’s Board to meaningfully engage over many months and its continued delay tactics have proven to be a great disservice to HP stockholders, who have shown tremendous support for the transaction.”

    It remains to be seen what measures Xerox may take once the crisis is over.

  • 3D Systems Buys A Chunk Of Xerox For $32.5 Million

    3D Systems has been on a roll over the past few years with it acquiring a number of 3D printer startups and technologies to bolster its own offerings. Now the company is going after a piece of one of the oldest technology firms around.

    3D Systems announced today that it has purchased Xerox’ Wilsonville, Oregon product design, engineering and chemistry group. The group was purchased for $32.5 million in cash, and the deal is expected to be finalized before the end of the year.

    Interestingly enough, this isn’t 3D Systems first time dealing with Xerox. In fact, the 3D printer company has partnered with Xerox over the past 15 years on a variety of projects, including the company’s own Projet 3D printers. With this acquisition, 3D Systems will add Xerox’ talent to its own by opening a R&D facility at the Wilsonville campus.

    “We are pleased to expand our relationship with an innovative partner of the caliber of Xerox and expect that acquiring some of the Xerox Wilsonville engineering team, together with their state-of the-art development labs and selected licensed IP, will catapult our 3D printers’ development and manufacturing capabilities forward,” said Avi Reichental, 3D Systems’ President and CEO. “This bold step is consistent with our belief that we must act quickly and decisively to extend and cement our marketplace leadership position by taking full advantage of the window of unprecedented opportunity in front of us.”

    With this announcement, some may be concerned that Xerox will abandon its current commitments to non-3D printing research. 3D Systems says that it will honor all existing commitments and Xerox will “maintain ink and print head development resources” at its Wilsonville facility. By keeping up the current research and spending more on 3D printers, 3D Systems expects to increase its research spending by 100 percent over the next few years.

    “This deal takes advantage of Xerox’s world-class capabilities and expands our relationship with 3D Systems in the exciting and dynamic 3D printing industry,” said Kevin Warren, President of Xerox Strategic Growth Initiatives. “It emphasizes how we are leveraging our expertise while we continue to evolve our business model and pursue strategic growth opportunities.”

    After the announcement, 3D Systems share price dropped .58 percent to 80.91. Xerox, on the other hand, saw its share price go up 1.22 percent to 11.63.

    Image via 3D Systems

  • Xerox Q1 2012 Revenue: $5.5 Billion!

    Xerox reports Q1 2012 revenue reached $5.5 billion, which is a 2% from last quarter, but the technology business lost 5%, while services continued to grow to the tune of 10%. Installations of Xerox products was up 7% and they continue as a worldwide leader in equipment sales. Overall things are looking good at Xerox despite a relatively flat macro business environment.

    Ursula Burns, Xerox chairman and chief executive officer comments on the results of the quarter:

    “Services now represents more than half of our total revenue and will continue to be the growth engine of our company as we expand our BPO offerings and strengthen our leadership in managed print services,”

    “Our first-quarter results reflect the successful execution of our strategy: accelerate services, grow our install base of Xerox color products, and efficiently operate our business to deliver strong earnings and shareholder value.”

    “Our business mix continues to change as we significantly scale our revenue in services and invest in growth through new offerings and long-term contracts,”

    “As a result, we see short-term pressure on margins that we will offset through cost reductions and operational improvements. We’re accelerating top-line services growth that leads to solid bottom-line performance.”

    To explore an in-depth analysis of the Xerox Q1 2012 financial report follow this link. Investors can find a nice breakdown by business segment and other valuable information relevant to the $0.19 per share earnings this quarter. You can also find projection for the remainder of 2012.

  • CES 2012: Education, Innovation Key To Growth

    CES 2012: Education, Innovation Key To Growth

    In the midst of the technology gauntlet that is CES, some people still took time out to talk about education and innovation as it relates to the tech industry.

    A panel of CEOs from Xerox, Ford and Verizon spoke on education and innovation during CES as reported by Vegas Inc. The executives pointed out that better education and economic diversification were the key to the United States catching up to leading businesses around the world.

    “We must fundamentally improve our educational system,” Ursula Burns, chairman and CEO of Xerox, said during the CES’ Innovation Power Panel session. “We need to make science and math a desirable place to be. We need great teachers. We need excited learners. We can’t complain if we don’t have them, if we don’t invest in them.”

    She went on to say that a part of the solution was to make students realize that four or six more years of education after high school could change their financial outlook and success.

    “Unfortunately, it’s still not cool to be that way,” Burns said. “And it’s amazing to me how few people are thinking that way.”

    CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro, moderator of the panel, said that the aftermath of the death of Steve Jobs put an emphasis on his role as an innovator. It was good for the industry as it showed the importance of innovators and the need for a solid education.

    Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford, said that the United States needed to get back to letting businesses grow.

    “Manufacturing can be a big part of fueling U.S. growth,” Mulally said. “It’s almost like we’ve decided not to be competitive.”

    John Stratton, president of Verizon Enterprise Solutions, said that his company was fostering innovation through the opening of centers in Boston and San Francisco that invite entrepreneurs to develop phone apps and services.

    Stratton blamed the government for not establishing new tax policies and putting regulatory burdens on companies as the main reasons behind their stifled innovation.

    The executives praised the section on the CES show floor called Eureka! Park that features more than 100 new technologies. Shapiro said that the area featured product categories like broadband services, safe driving and sustainable technologies. It’s his hope that venture capitalists will invest in these new technologies to bring them to market.

  • Jacob Goldman, Xerox Lab Founder, Is Dead

    Jacob Goldman, Xerox Lab Founder, Is Dead

    100% of you would probably not be reading this if it hadn’t been for Dr. Jacob E. Goldman.

    While he wasn’t inventor of Xerox copiers, Jacob Goldman, a physicist and visionary, made an even more important contribution to your life: he was the chief scientist of Xerox’s research center that invented the modern personal computer. So today, when you bitTorrent the Fast and Furious series or tweet about how long it’s taking you to move through the ordering line at Panera, take a moment to respectful observe the contribution of Dr. Goldman for he has passed. He was 90.

    Xerox has been so successful in the realm of office copiers that its synonymous with any copying machine, not to mention that it’s now been verbified (“Peeeter, what’s happening? Hey, could you go Xerox 30 copies of this for me? Greeeaaaat, thanks.”). Foreseeing that the people of the future would want to copy things in a new way, a la “copy and paste,” Xerox entered the realm of computer manufacturing. Xerox brought in Dr. Goldman to helm the mission to shrink and personalize the computer (these were still the days of living room-sized computers you see in old sci-fi war rooms) and, voila, about 40 years later you probably couldn’t figure out how to turn on a faucet without your personal computer.

    While Xerox fumbled their future with personal computers, you still have Dr. Goldman to thank for the fact that you can read this from your laptop, tablet, phone, whatever. Just think, we might not have had Saint Jobs had it not been for Dr. Goldman’s innovative, brilliant mind.

  • Google, Yahoo Countersue Xerox Over Patent Claims

    Two months ago, Xerox sued Google and Yahoo for patent infringement, and the two defendants haven’t responded by pulling out their checkbooks.  They’ve instead taken the interesting (though not unexpected) step of making counterclaims.

    Apparently Google and Yahoo are willing to accept either of a couple explanations for why they’re not guilty of infringement.  Reuters reported, "In filings in Delaware federal court on Thursday, the defendants sought declarations that they did not infringe the two patents at issue, or variantly that the patents are invalid and thus cannot be enforced by Xerox."

    That’s a rather interesting approach, but one that’s hard to argue with.  It’ll allow Google and Yahoo’s lawyers to look for loopholes even as they claim that the patents are too broad (one covers generating queries based on keyword searches, while the other relates to updating pages based on user reviews).

    Also, even if the tactic seems a little unrefined, a whole lot of products – including AdSense, AdWords, Google Maps, Google Video, YouTube, the Yahoo Publisher Network, Yahoo Search Marketing, Yahoo Shopping, and the Y!Q Contextual Search tool – might be affected by the outcome of this case, so it’s natural that Google and Yahoo would explore all possibilities.

    We’ll continue to keep you updated on how these cases progress, although there’s no reason to believe that the matter will be resolved in the near future.

  • Xerox Sues Google, Yahoo

    Xerox Sues Google, Yahoo

    Google and Yahoo get sued on a regular basis, often by tiny outfits with no chance of winning.  But now, the two companies are facing a much more serious lawsuit, as Xerox, which has a market cap of almost $8 billion and a genuine legal team, is taking them to court.

    Xerox claims that Google and Yahoo have infringed on two patents it holds.  Susan Decker explained earlier this morning, "One patent, issued in 2004, is for a way to automatically generate a query based on keyword searches. . . .  The second patent, issued in 2001, is for a way of updating pages based on user reviews."

    Xerox would like to be compensated for Google and Yahoo’s alleged infringement, and also wants to bar them from using the tech again without its consent (which could probably be obtained via a licensing agreement).

    Of course, Google and Yahoo aren’t liable to hand Xerox a blank check.  One of Google’s lawyers has already described Xerox’s claims as being "without merit," and Carol Bartz isn’t the type to shy from a fight.

    This could turn into quite a legal battle, then, and the operation of AdSense, AdWords, Google Maps, Google Video, YouTube, the Yahoo Publisher Network, Yahoo Search Marketing, Yahoo Shopping, and the Y!Q Contextual Search tool might be affected by the outcome.