Xerox Makes SMB Play With Two Sub-$2,000 Color Printers

Xerox

On Monday, Xerox unveiled its Phaser 8200, a single-pass, solid ink color printer with speeds of up to 16 ppm at 400 dpi or 3.5 ppm in the 1,200-dpi photo mode. Estimated retail price starts at $1,499.

The Xerox Phaser 6200, also unveiled Monday, is a single-pass laser printer with speeds of up to 16 ppm at 2,400 x 600 dpi or 8 ppm in the 1,200 x 1,200-dpi photo mode. Estimated retail price starts at $1,999.

Unlike in the past, where users of Xerox solid ink printers could get black ink sticks free of charge for the life of the printers, the company this week is starting to charge for the black ink, said Peter Thornton, product marketing manager for the Phaser 6200. This enables solution providers to make money on the black ink sticks, Thornton said.

With the 8200, the ink sticks have also been redesigned and are not compatible with ink sticks from previous solid ink printers, company executives said.

While the new printers will be available for sale direct to users online, pricing combined with rebates will allow solution providers in the company's Peak Alliance program to make a margin of about 15 percent on the printers, said Michelle Riddle, channel marketing manager for the company. The Peak Alliance program is focused mainly on the SMB market space, she said.

In addition to a rebate of to 3 percent to 4 percent, depending on sales volume, Peak Alliance solution providers also have access to co-branded collateral material and Web pages, said Riddle. Within the next two weeks, Xerox plans to introduce a co-branded e-mail campaign as well, she said.

The new printers are available direct from Xerox or through distributors including Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Synnex Information Technologies and others.

The new printers come from Xerox's Office Printing Business division, which was formed from the 1999 acquisition of the Tektronix Color Printing and Imaging Division, based here.

In related news, Xerox on Monday also said the company received $496 million in financing from GE Capital, secured by portions of Xerox's lease receivables in the United States. This financing, to be amortized over a period that extends into 2005, will be used to help Xerox in its return to financial health, the company said.