The Dividend Daily

Xerox Misses Q4 Expectations, Shares Fall (XRX)

: "The Bottom Line
We have avoided shares of XRX since our early June coverage began, when the stock was trading at $13.22. The company has a 2.24% dividend yield, based on last night’s closing stock price of $7.59. The stock is approaching its historic lows, which is around the $4 price range. If the shares can firm up, we see initial overhead resistance at the $9 level, and then the $12.50 level after that. We would look elsewhere for better investment opportunities.

Xerox Corp (XRX) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com Rating of 3.1 out of 5 stars."

2.24% Dividend Yield at $7.59 and "Selling, administrative and general expenses were 25.2% of revenue, up about a point from the fourth quarter of 2007".

As far as I can tell, here are some other SG&A numbers.
GE = 22.3 % SG&A
Kodak = 22.2 % SG&A for Digital Imaging Group
Wal-Mart = 16.54 SG&A

Are we a lean, mean money making machine? Is it about firing staff and/or reducing benefits? Or is it about cutting non salary items from SG&A? Or is it about increasing the revenue line with the people we have? Or is it taking a bigger bite from the highest earners?

No doubt it will be all of the above. But "firing staff and/or reducing benefits" is appropriate ONLY AFTER everything else has been done.

Xerox Offers Purchasing Solution To Mid-Sized Businesses

read at Abot.com: Logistics/Supply Chain
"Friday January 23, 2009
With US companies looking to offshore suppliers to help provide goods and services, the Xerox corporation has launched a service to help businesses find appropriate vendors. Xerox spends $6.7 billion annually on goods and services and almost half of that is with Asian vendors. The experience that Xerox has accrued is now available to companies for a fee."

RochesterTurning.com: turning the tide upstate

read at RochesterTurning.com
"Xerox just laid off a couple hundred of its Rochester area employees last week. D&C columnist Denise Marie Santiago wrote about a couple of them:

This week I intended to write about a family facing dire straits, a married couple who’d just been laid off from Xerox Corp. within days of each other, a man and a woman trying to figure out how they’d keep their house, raise their kids and pay for health insurance without a paycheck between them.

It’s a story being echoed in Xerox, Kodak, and many other families around the county. Here’s the part that’s different:

Then I made a call to the company. After the call, guess what? The wife got her job back.

Which, of course, is wonderful for that family. But it should appall the thousands of employees who have lost or will lose their jobs in this latest round of layoffs that Xerox announced in the fall, some 3,000 in all. It sure bugs me.

I’m glad she was un-fired, but how arbitrary is that? Xerox grants a pardon to an employee to avoid bad PR? What this, and the cuts, are about is short-term versus long-term thinking. Short-term cuts to impress shareholders and God-like restoring of jobs to avoid a PR black eye."

Highlights from Q4 Conference Call

Read the transcript at Seeking Alpha.com

Selling, administrative and general expenses were 25.2% of revenue, up about a point from the fourth quarter of 2007
. . .
Through the third quarter 2008 revenue from DMO was up 17%. In the fourth quarter revenue from DMO declined 14%. 11 percentage points of this decline is entirely due to major shifts in currency in several developing markets.
. . .
In addition, we’re pleased with the demand for our color continuous feed system which just recently launched in North America.
. . .
Installs of color multifunction systems were up 9% in the fourth quarter.
. . .
while fourth quarter revenue from color was flat in constant currency, color pages were up 23% and now represent 18% of total pages printed on Xerox technology
. . .
According to Gartner we hold the number one market share for managed print services for more of 50% of the total market.
. . .
Coupled with our $2 billion revolver we have the ability to run our business and pay down debt with no requirement to access capital markets unless we choice to.
. . .
Brazil it was less activity driven, it was more currency driven. . . . In Russia it was clearly economic driven major deterioration. Literally, we didn’t see it until the second half of November so a dramatic shift in Russia.
. . .
But, we’re not having litigation in ’09.
. . .
we have no plans to buy back shares unless the capital markets change.
. . .
We actually walked out of the year with nice backlogs in the 700s and iGen4 which is terrific.
. . .
color remains quite good and certainly the hot products 700 and iGen, we’re seeing very healthy backlogs on. . . . services signings up in the fourth quarter and fourth quarter last year was really strong
. . .
. . . we’ve even added . . . on the incentive side for our field organization on what we call same account revenue growth

And with all this, according to SeekingAlpha, we lost 7.38% on Friday. My theory is that Wall Street is still focused on the next quarter, the conventional wisdom that we are on office equipment company and there is just too much noise for the signal to get through. While they focus on the noise of the "financial results" they don't see how the business is doing.

It's pretty clear that the talk about sustainable business and long term growth is still just talk for most "analysts." Besides it's much easier to talk about profit expectations for the next quarter.

Maybe Buffet will notice.

While we're waiting for the "Market" to figure it out and our PR and Advertising Agency to amplify the signal, it would be great to change .17 dividend and 2.40 yield. We can do better than .17.

And someone really should fix this.

FYI. Here's what Matthew Daneman • Staff writer • January 24, 2009 for the Democrat and Chronicle.com had to say, under a headline that reads:

Xerox outlook not favorable

Xerox Corp. headed into 2008 seemingly humming along, with sales and earnings per share up notably over 2007 and its stock trading at more than $14.

Heading into 2009, the area's fourth-largest employer is in decidedly more dour circumstances.

Xerox broke even for the last three months of 2008, while its overall profits for the year were 20 percent of what they were in 2007. And the Connecticut-based printing and document services company is expecting depressed earnings through 2009.

Xerox announced its fourth-quarter and year-overall 2008 financial results Friday. Wall Street was not pleased with the results, with shares closing Friday at $7.03, down 56 cents, or 7.4 percent.

"Wall Street was not pleased." Wall Street spent lots of time being "pleased" with the noise - "financial results" - from the Banks. Then when the roof caved in, they all ran around saying that "no one saw this coming."

Give me a break!

Meanwhile, here's how they played it at Global Crisis News:

Xerox reports a $1million profit

January 24, 2009 by Greg

Xerox Corp., (XRX.N) the biggest maker of high-speed color printers with global operations said fourth-quarter net income was $1 million, or nothing per share. That is down from $382 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier. It is well understood that we are talking about a big drop in net income, nevertheless, the company is not in the red like countless other firms around the globe.

I'm liking "the biggest maker of high-speed color printers with global operations."

The geniuses over at Forbes said:

Xerox's Picture Lacks Clarity

Miriam Marcus, 01.24.09, 01:00 AM EST

Soft sales in emerging markets sent the copier maker’s Q4 earnings down 99.7%.

Economic woes are making for a fuzzy outlook at copy-industry pioneer Xerox. The company posted a hefty 99.7% decline in fourth-quarter profits on Friday as demand for its copy and printing services eased in Russia and other emerging markets.

Copy maker?

The New York Times (actually Reuters) said:

Xerox 4th-Quarter Profit Falls to Nearly Nothing

'The Xerox Corporation said fourth-quarter profit shrank to nearly nothing, hurt by restructuring costs and a decline in demand from Russia.Xerox Corporation said fourth-quarter profit shrank to nearly nothing, hurt by restructuring costs and a decline in demand from Russia.

Higher manufacturing costs resulting from an increase in the value of the Japanese yen also caused the company, a leading provider of digital printers and document management services, to forecast a first-quarter profit short of analysts’ targets.

The Guardian said (Also a Reuters re write)

Xerox profit falls on restructuring costs; shares fall
By Franklin Paul
NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Xerox Corp barely eked out a profit in the fourth quarter, hurt by a dramatic decline in demand from Russia and other emerging markets and $349 million in restructuring costs, sending its shares lower.
The leading provider of digital printers and document management services, whose growth is driven by sales of services and supplies for printing machines, also forecast first-quarter results below analysts' targets.

If you're interested in more, Google "Xerox" in News. Search. This morning it got about 245 hits, with all the different ways to say similar things.

The WSJ doesn't know what we do..

From this morning's WSJ:

The copy-machine and printer giant projected first-quarter earnings of 16 cents a share to 20 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters projected 24 cents.

Who cares about a "copy-machine and printer giant?" With all due respect, does anyone think that the time and money invested in the new logo might have been better invested in breaking through this noise?

How about a half page ad in the WSJ and FT every Thursday, until they get it, that says,

Dear Investment Community,
Xerox is not a "copy-machine" or "office products" company. We understand that it's been a little hectic lately, what with financial meltdowns and the all bad advice that you've gotten from "analysts."

But you owe it to yourself to take a closer look.

We make most of our money by selling toner and supplies.
We create value by growing a sustainable global information output network.
We generate disruptive innovation every day at PARC.

We are in it for the long term.

Your friends,
The hardworking folks at the Xerox Corporation.

Meanwhile,
The company's share price fell about 30% over the quarter to close at $7.97. Ouch!

The competition: HP has its best-ever year in graphic arts industry

read more at Printing Industry News from WhatTheyThink:

"PALO ALTO, Calif., HP today announced it has completed its most successful year in the graphic arts industry to date, . . . During the year, HP has extended its market stance as the leading provider of digital color printing solutions to the graphic arts. For the HP Indigo business, worldwide page growth exceeded 30 percent year over year.

"HP exceeded its internal targets for the graphic arts industry in 2008 and is . . .blablabla

Between HP and Oce and Screen, the commercial Print space is getting crowded. The good news is that we still own MPS, and printed pages . . . for now.

Xerox accounts for 56 percent of the MPS market.

And the supply business is holding up nicely even in this environment.

Maybe it's time to put a little less investment in commercial Print and a little more investment in MPS and creatives. One way to lower the investment in commercial Print would be to radically lower the price of Production Boxes. Take some money from marketing and shows and put it against the price of equipment, while watching the price points for supplies very carefully.

Lifetime customer value is all about post sales. From the ground it feels like biz development and customer support is about upgrading or buying boxes. I'm pretty sure that is not the intent. Just what it feels like from here.

So, let's assume the number of Production boxes is going to be pretty flat, for a while. The office equipment is all about MFP's. Lots of competition with MFPs. But our MFPs can be linked to the Cloud and then to the Xerox Print Output Network. X-PON.

How about getting serious about nurturing distribute and print? It would be really cool to set up a Web2Print functionality for Xerox PON. Global creatives would, IMHO, love the ability to send hard copy prototypes for approvals and discussion anywhere in the world, within a couple of hours. That should be worth a buzz. Creatives are full time Energizer Bunny Buzz Machines.

The user experience:
Google "Xerox PON (Print Output Network)" or C-GO (see below)
Find it.
Choose region or country of output.
Enter specs and get price (see PrintingForLess.com)
Choose delivery service. First Class, Business Class, Value Class. (overnight, 3 day, 5 day,)
Enter delivery information. (See Fedex)
Upload file.
Pay with credit card in local currency.
Get email confirmation when off press and then when delivered.

The problem is that it's very hard for a Non Xeroid to set this up. It's a business problem. Negotiating the prices is going to take forever. Negotiating the standards of delivery is going to take forever. Translating from India to Dubai to New York to Rochester? what a nightmare.

The bigger problem is that our customers do not have a business model that allows them to do 5 or 10 copies without drama. Nor are there predictable standards for output in place. Nor are there predicitable standards for substrates in place.

The good news is that creatives will accept some uncertainty because it only has to be a lot better than the screen or locally printed PDF's with no finishing. Our network should be able to deliver that value, today.

To get from here to there:
Do a Google. Roll out as a beta. Co create the application with users and stop doing focus groups and having meetings. Keep using it as a beta, until it grows into a business. That's how Google Aps is going after Microsoft Office. Google Aps is reported to have over 1,000,000 small business users. And they just sold Washington DC on replacing Office with Google Aps as the platform for 35,000 government users. at $50 a head/ a year, not a bad business model to add to advertising. Especially once you consider their marginal cost of service delivery.

Meanwhile, Xerox corporate has all the relationships that Printer on the ground don't. We should. We've invested gezillions hours in developing those relationships.And our people are doing a great job. For the long run, our defensible advantage is the social capital created over the years. HP, Kodak, et al can't write a check for that. It needs time.

So . . .maybe it's called Xerox Creatives Global Output?

The Youtube video for C-GO might work like this:

The client: "I need to see this in hardcopy to show my team, (or more likely my supervisor).
The creative: "No problem. I'll use C - GO and you'll have it on your desk (Anywhere) or on all their desks (Everywhere) by tomorrow morning."
The client: What's C-GO?
The creative: It's a beta product by Xerox that we're helping test for them.
The client: Can I get on the network.
The creative: Let me send an email to my beta mentor and see if I can get you on.

Whatever it's called, I'm thinking that the signal might break through the noise generated when the whole media establishment is suffering from "deer in the headlights" syndrome.

Xerox is not "to copy." Xerox is "to Print.
Google it. Find it. Xerox it. Anywhere.

Earnings Preview: Xerox

read at Seeking Alpha:
"Analyst Views

Few analysts write on the company these days. Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore sees more pain for Xerox as companies continue to skimp on IT spending because of economic uncertainty. 'We continue to believe printing and copying are the most discretionary purchases within IT budgets and corporations are likely to continue reducing/delaying equipment purchases,' Whitmore told investors in a recent client note. On the other hand, Whitmore said 'modest' revenue from the company's 'post-sale' business -- sales of ink and other equipment to customers who already own Xerox printing and copy machines -- should help offset weaker hardware sales. Post-sale revenue accounts for about three-quarters of overall revenue for Xerox."

With all due respect, blablablabla. Sustainable revenue from continuing operations in the global information infrastructure. Is hardware sales what drives income? So, I'm thinking the "analysts" need a sexier story.

Google it. Find it. Print it. Anywhere.

Maybe it will catch their attention. Plus it's even true.

Xerox PARC: Still Making a Difference -- Seeking Alpha

read at Seeking Alpha:

Kevin Maney gets it. AP, anyone?

"When many observers of the tech scene hear 'Xerox PARC,' they tend to think -- oh yeah, those guys who let Steve Jobs steal their operating system for the Mac and otherwise invented a lot of cool stuff that never paid off for, well, Xerox (XRX).

Which is, actually, all true. But there's more. The legendary lab has been in the news lately because Microsoft (MSFT) bought a search technology company called Powerset for an alleged $100 million. Powerset was built on technology licensed from PARC. The lab has also won some attention in the past week for unveiling a way to print documents so the ink disappears in a day, allowing the paper to be reused. Sure, a lot of people want to keep printouts, but if it's, say, a restaurant menu that will change tomorrow -- this could save a lot of paper.

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped in at the lab and talked with its president, Mark Bernstein. PARC these days operates as a partially-owned subsidiary of Xerox -- a stand-alone business that has to make money by licensing its inventions and spinning off companies. It's been getting into all kinds of areas, like using its competence in laser technology to develop better diagnostic tools for blood."

All good. 75% of the revenue is post sales. Licensing is nice, but how does it get us more clicks?

Bernstein seemed particularly proud of an invention unveiled this year called a "spiral concentrator." It seems simple, but is based on complex, precise physics. Water flows through a spiral of tubes set up so that polluting particles are forced to the sides of the tubes. The particles get trapped and clean water comes out -- a cheap, low-energy way to purify water. "That one excites me," Bernstein said.

So how about we partner with someone - GE? Gates Foundation? The Federal Government?
And roll out clean water around the planet. Sounds like we could do well, by doing lots and lots of good. An entreprenerial startup? Someone in India? We know people in India.

And until that turns into the best infrastructure business of all, we keep focusing on clicks.

Tech May Be a Wreck, But This Isn't 2001 -- Seeking Alpha

Read at Seeking Alpha:

Alan Brochstein gets it. Now only if the AP would get it, things would probably work out OK. Maybe someone should give him a call?

A / AAPL / ADI / ALTR / AMAT / AMD / APH / BRCM / CIEN / CSCO / CTXS / DELL / EMC / ERTS / GLW / GOOG / HPQ / HRS / IBM / INTC / JAVA / JBL / JDSU / KLAC / LLTC / LSI / LXK / MCHP / MOLX / MOT / MSFT / MU / NSM / NTAP / NVDA / NVLS / ORCL / QCOM / QLGC / SNDK / SYMC / TDC / TEL / TER / TLAB / TXN / WFR / XLNX / XRX

"I have been negative on Tech as a sector relative to the market as a whole, but I am no longer so."

Death of The Copier: Earnings preview: Xerox seen posting tough 4Q Associated Press, 01.21.09, 02:56 PM EST

Death of The Copier: Earnings preview: Xerox seen posting tough 4Q Associated Press, 01.21.09, 02:56 PM EST:

"On the other hand, Whitmore said 'modest' revenue from the company's 'post-sale' business - sales of ink and other equipment to customers who already own Xerox printing and copy machines - should help offset weaker hardware sales.

Post-sale revenue accounts for about three-quarters of overall revenue for Xerox."

So what don't I understand?

Post sale revenue which is 3/4's of our revenue increased while the world went through a global financial meltdown.
Meanwhile, they concentrate on how many boxes we sold.

Almost every other business on the planet lost core revenue, except Google and WalMart. The post sales business is a great business. It's an infrastructure business. It's a sustainable business.

Death of the Copier? With all due respect, what a dumb headline.

Xerox India Reemphasizes on Need for Innovation

read more at ChannelTimes.com , Newsline of the IT Industry

Notice it isn't the office equipment manufacturer industry it's the IT Industry. If they can get it right in India, what's the problem with our press? Too distracted? Too caught in the conventional wisdom?

"Vipin Tuteja, Executive Director, Production Systems Group (PSG) and Head Integrated Marketing & SAO, Xerox India, said, 'We are delighted to be a part of this prestigious event. It is an ideal platform for brands in the Indian market place to showcase innovation and differentiation.'

He further added, 'In tough times like today, innovation plays a critical role in business decisions and growth. Now more than ever, businesses are looking for ways to deliver more value to its customers and grow higher profits to stakeholders. Our association with POY 2009 is aimed to get closer to corporate and communicate the effective ways of communication via Xerox's innovative solutions and technology advancements that would help brands excel.'

Charulata Ravikumar, CEO, Product of the Year, said, 'In the face of globalization, awards are not merely appreciation of the effort behind a product"

"E-Paper You Can Use at Home" ???

One of our problems is that because of our great success at the top of the pyramid, sometimes it's hard to see the bottom of the pyramid. Maybe this will help get the erasable paper out the door, help the market understand that we are not an "office equipment" company and get the stock price to where it should be.

Plus maybe it's a way to negotiate the channel conflicts. Sell the epaper only on the web. Let the channels sell the boxes. Give the channel partners the info on who buys epaper, so that they can start the conversations to sell them upgrades when the customer needs them. And incent the channel partners to refer people to Premier Partners in the course of those conversations.

E Paper You Can Use at Home or in your Studio.
Save paper by not using it when you don't need it.
Google it. Find it. Xerox it. On E Paper.

Back in the day: In the beginning: The making of the Mac

read at Macworld:

"Technologies such as Ethernet, object-oriented programming and GUI operating systems that accepted input from a mouse all emerged from PARC. Focused more on its copier business than on the emerging computer revolution, Xerox let many of these technologies languish because executives couldn’t understand how to turn them into marketable products."

Erasable paper? Deja Vue all over again?

Earnings preview: Xerox seen posting tough 4Q - Forbes.com

read at Forbes.com: (from the AP)

"Xerox Corp. is set to report earnings for the fourth quarter on Friday ahead of the opening bell. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period.
. . . The Norwalk, Conn.-based printer and copier company has seen a sharp downturn in orders from big U.S. customers due to the recession. Xerox expects the new round of job cuts to save $200 million in 2009."

Printer and copier company? The Associated Press? C'mon let's fix this. It can't be that hard.

Erasable paper, anyone?

Why Xerox's Erasable Paper Isn't On the Market (Yet) - BusinessWeek

read at BusinessWeek:
So it looks like Business Week is asking the same question I've been asking for about 2 weeks.

"Hoover told me that there have been internal debates--polite of course--on when to release the product, which looks and feels like regular paper but darkens when exposed to light, similar to eyeglass lenses that adjust with sunlight and shadows. Text and images temporarily appear on the paper, via a projected light source in the shapes of letters and forms. Then they fade over time (Xerox has said between 16-24 hours), and the paper can be re-used again."

Ok, so the erasable paper might eat into the supplies market. That is a real problem. But I'm sure that if the right people get in the room that can be figured out. Are we looking at another mouse, postscript or e paper?

The new rules, in my humble opinion, are not copyright protection. Internet rules are speed to market with a good enough product. Someone in India or China or Finland is already working on the competitive product. ( I bet, but don't know for sure.) It will be not as good. But it will be good enough and first to the party. Think BetaMax and VHS.

At least since 2006 or so, Xerox has heralded its invention of “erasable” paper, but it hasn’t yet hit the market. And the company hasn’t said when it will.
. . .
Why was there debate over when to release the eco-friendly paper, which has gotten a ton of buzz? The company is still working with its clients to assess their needs not only in terms of the paper itself, but also its pricing. Will offices and consumers alike pay more for paper that they can re-use, rather than much cheaper paper that they can simply stick in the recycling bin? This is the type of question that Xerox sales reps and marketing types are asking them before releasing it.
. . .
Hoover told me that Xerox just hired a market research firm to help conduct in-person focus groups, which the company still finds helpful even in the age of online crowdsourcing for customer opinions. Still, he said that Xerox is also paying attention to Web comments on its erasable paper project.

This is "Web comments on its erasable paper project."
Here's my comment: 2006? It's 2009. Google went from zero to now in ten years. C'mon team.

Partner or Competition?:IBM Helps Businesses, Consumers Weather the Storm With Cost Effective Software

read more at FOXBusiness.com:

"IBM is working with Xerox to align Lotus Foundations and Xerox's multi-function printing devices to empower Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and Value Added Resellers(VARs) to better support small business customers.

'Xerox's Extensible Interface Platform (EIP) enables solutions to be built that manage documents and other digital content that flow to and from our multi-function printing (MFP) devices,' said Tom Durkin, director for corporate strategy, Xerox. 'With Lotus Foundations, IBM has a simple and secure platform that supports document solutions that involve encoded and image information and is ideal to simplify SMB business processes. Combine Foundations and EIP and you will have a complete collaboration infrastructure in which solutions can be prototyped, developed and deployed quickly and easily to the SMB market.'"

Sounds good, but... how does this work with IBM and Infoprint? Are we going to get the clicks while Infoprint gets the transpromo?

Also, Google has 1,000,000 Google Aps users. Most of them small business. Plus they just got the Washington DC government to choose Google Aps instead of Microsoft. The price Google charges is $50/seat per year.

Do we have a plan to integrate our printers into Google's cloud?

Sanyo tries to coin ‘dual cameras.’ Will it stick? | csmonitor.com

read at csmonitor.com:

"When new tech terms solidify, they stick on tight. Colloquially, all copiers are “Xerox machines,” any web searches are “Googling,” and every tiny laptop is a “netbook.”"

So how about . . .

Yesterday Xerox meant copy.
Today Xerox means Print and Scan.

Google it. Find it. Xerox it.

If the Christian Science Monitor thinks we are a copy company and the AP thinks we are an office machine company, is it any wonder the stock price won't move?

Wonder how much we paid the PR firm and the Advertising Agency last year? More than we saved by laying off employees?

If anyone knows why this is wrong, please leave a comment.
Advertising agency? Brand manager? PR firm? Anne? Ursula?
I promise that I won't be snarky in any response. I'm just concerned about my 401K.

By the way, how are we doing with getting the erasable paper into the market?

Not All Earnings News Is Bad

read at avc.com:

"We are in such a negative/bearish environment and it seems like all the economic news, including individual company earnings news, is bad these days. But it's always worth noting the exceptions to the rule and thinking about why that is.

Yesterday IBM announced it's fourth quarter earnings and it's net income was up 12% over the fourth quarter of 2007. Revenues were down slightly as hardware was down 20% and higher margin software and services were up a similar amount. But most interesting was IBM's move to increase the expectations for earnings in 2009 and 2010. IBM said that the company 'was ahead of pace to increase earnings to $10 to $11/share by 2010'.

What's going on at IBM is an ongoing transition from a hardware oriented business to a software and services business which is driving margins up combined with a still healthy book of business from its clients all over the world combined with an ongoing ability to reduce costs and become more efficient."

So I'm thinking that the real competition is IBM. Now that they have done the deal with Ricoh in the form of InfoPrint, they are moving into our space, faster and faster.

Erasable paper?

Competition: Eastman Kodak Q3 2008 Earnings Call Transcript

read more at Seeking Alpha:
"Start time: 11:00
End time: 12:06
Eastman Kodak (EK)
Q3 2008 Earnings Call

October 30, 2008 11:00 am

Executives
Antonio Perez - Chairman and CEO
Frank Sklarsky - Chief Financial Officer
Ann McCorvey - Vice President of Investor Relations

Analysts
Jay Vleeschhouwer - Merrill Lynch
Carol Sabbagha - Barclays Capital
Richard Gardner - Citigroup
Shannon Cross - Cross Research
Ananda Baruah - Banc of America Securities
Joan Lappin - Gramercy Capital

Presentation

Operator
Good day everyone, and welcome to the Eastman Kodak Third Quarter Sales and Earnings Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the conference over to the Director and Vice President of Investor Relations, Miss Ann McCorvey. Please go ahead."

Back in the Day: Mighty mouse turns 40

read at ITWeb

[ Johannesburg, 21 January 2009 ]
- The computer mouse has turned 40: It was in December 1968 that the first mouse was demonstrated at research labs in California.

Thirteen years later, Xerox took the mouse commercial when it attached it to its Star computer system in 1981."

Where is the erasable paper?

One more for our team:Xerox, Xerox India, Xerox Phasers, Xerox Printers, Xerox phaser toner cartrdige, Xerox Partners, Xerox Service, IT News India

read at IT News India:

"According to a recent report by Pira International, the worldwide digital print market is set to be worth EUR 124.8 billion by 2015. Also, the report predicts that from 2005 to 2015, more digital reproduction devices will be sold than any other technology. Xerox India meanwhile has already begun to tap the potential of the digital print market in India. 'As per our own internal estimates, the Indian digital printing market will grow from USD 504 million in 2006 to as much as USD 2.5 billion by 2012,' says Vipin Tuteja, Executive Director, PSG, and Head, Integrated Marketing, Xerox India Limited."

Ever wonder why all the cool stuff seems to come from India and the UK.

One for the home team: Xerox Color Printers And Multifunction Systems Ranked "Best" In

Xerox Color Printers And Multifunction Systems Ranked "Best" In:
"For the second year in a row, office workers rated Xerox Corporation's color printers, copiers and MFPs 'best' overall when compared to competitors such as Canon, Hewlett-Packard and Ricoh. Respondents to Industry Analysts Inc.'s Annual Color End-User Survey also gave Xerox color products the top rating in the 'Maintenance and Total Cost of Operation' category. 'We've found that customers really don't hold back - they give honest, candid feedback in this survey,' said Andy Slawetsky, president, Industry Analysts. 'The fact that Xerox has come out on top in back-to-back years proves their customers consistently experience a high level of product quality and service.'"

Oops. Xerox new logo looks like a beach ball

from Adland images available at the link: "According to the NYT Xerox Hopes Its New Logo Doesn’t Say ‘Copier’ - well good news Xerox, it doesn't. It says 'beach ball' or 'hard peppermint candy' but not 'Copier' or anything else you actually do.

'Our new brand reflects who we are, the markets we serve and the innovation that differentiates us in our industry. We have expanded into new markets, created new businesses, acquired new capabilities, developed technologies that launched new industries -- all to ensure we make it easier, faster, and less costly for our customers to share information.' source press release

My note: Wouldn't it have been better to say, Xerox is the only global information instructure with printers attached? Probably not, but a talented copywriter could translate the idea into something some real people understand.

Sure, OK. Would you like a mint?

Update: My fave design-writer Armin at Brand New reports that one of the reasons Xerox did this drastic change was because it animates better.

I find it rather humorous — and please excuse me while I get my biggest gripe out of the way — that this logo 'animates' better and how it's a key strength. Yet, the best that could be done (at least at launch) is this? Seriously?"

One for our team

Peddie's 1st - NJ.com:
After graduating from Peddie, Brown attended Rutgers University. He worked as a registered nurse at several hospitals in New Jersey for 20 years, and then worked with Xerox for 23 years until retiring in 2004.
. . .
"Horace Brown, Peddie School's first African American graduate, will reflect on his school experiences and the civil rights movement at 11 a.m. today in Ayer Memorial Chapel, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an address 52 years earlier. Brown's speech will precede the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president."

This is cool:Park's Xerox Global Business Lecture Series Featuring Fareed Zakaria On Sale

more at link news.park.edu

"Tickets For Park's Xerox Global Business Lecture Series Featuring Fareed Zakaria On Sale
By Brad Biles - January 16, 2009 - 8:20 am

Park University faculty, staff and students, as well as the general public, can now purchase tickets to attend Park University's Xerox Global Business Lecture Series on Tuesday, March 31, featuring Fareed Zakaria. The event will take place at Kansas City's Folly Theater, starting at 7 p.m."

Xerox Plans Live Audio Webcast to Discuss 2008 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results

read more at newswire.ca

Xerox Plans Live Audio Webcast to Discuss 2008 Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Results

NORWALK, CT, Jan. 19 /CNW/ - Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) will host a live audio webcast with online presentation slides on Jan. 23 to review its 2008 fourth-quarter results and full-year results, which will be announced that day at 7 a.m. ET.

WHEN: 10 a.m. ET, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009

WHAT: Review of Xerox's 2008 fourth-quarter and full-year results

WHO: Anne Mulcahy, Xerox chairman and chief executive officer
Ursula Burns, Xerox president
Lawrence Zimmerman, Xerox executive vice president and chief
financial officer

AUDIO
WEBCAST: http://www.xerox.com/investor or

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?p=irol-eventDetails&c=104414&eventID
=2055813"

More advice for PR and Our Ad Agency

How about :

Xerox does not mean copy anymore.
Now, Xerox means scan and print.

or
Yesterday Xerox meant Copy.
Today Xerox means Scan and Print.

Google it. Find it. Xerox it. Anywhere.

The TV ads just write themselves, don't ya think?

In the good old days the way to "protect" the brand was with lawyers. These days the way to grow the brand is to let people use it the way they want to use.

Besides, can you imagine anyone ever saying, Cannon it. Kodak it. Oce it. HP it. Not likely. The only other company I can think of who's name is a verb is Google. It's working out pretty well for them. Probably without that many lawyers filling suits. So, change the old ideas about ip. Let the lawyers work on other problem.

Google it. Find it. Xerox it. Anywhere.