The newswires are buzzing this morning over IBM's printer deal with Ricoh. The IBM sale involves dealing 49% of their printer business to Ricoh, establishing a joint venture to continue its base in Boulder, CO. IBM's got the official word and Reuters has a piece with some interesting analyst quotes.
IBM of course famously divested another printer unit in the early 1990's, the company now known as Lexmark. That deal also had a very lengthy and graceful hand-off of branding rights that is mindful of the current transaction's details, though it is structured completely differently with the today's JV announcement. The relationship between IBM and Lexmark has continued with Lexmark acting as an OEM supplier for the Infoprint office printers.
It's assumed that these products are included under the aegis of the new organization, InfoPrint Solutions though the coverage emphasizes data center printers. The name, btw, seems to have "upgraded" to a mid-word capital "P" in its new form -- "Infoprint" is currently IBM's printer brand. Stay tuned...
IBM of course famously divested another printer unit in the early 1990's, the company now known as Lexmark. That deal also had a very lengthy and graceful hand-off of branding rights that is mindful of the current transaction's details, though it is structured completely differently with the today's JV announcement. The relationship between IBM and Lexmark has continued with Lexmark acting as an OEM supplier for the Infoprint office printers.
It's assumed that these products are included under the aegis of the new organization, InfoPrint Solutions though the coverage emphasizes data center printers. The name, btw, seems to have "upgraded" to a mid-word capital "P" in its new form -- "Infoprint" is currently IBM's printer brand. Stay tuned...
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