InfoPrint Solutions Company Celebrates Independence Day, Launches New Printer

July 10, 2007 Alex Woodie

As expected, the InfoPrint Solutions Company, the joint company created following the sale of IBM‘s printer business to business machine maker Ricoh, is now operating as an independent entity out of Boulder, Colorado, the company announced last month. The new group also announced the new InfoPrint Color 1767 printer last week.

In January, IBM revealed the sale of its printer unit to Ricoh for $725 million. As part of the deal, the two companies planned to jointly operate for three years the InfoPrint Solutions Company, the new name given to the IBM Printing Systems Division. During that time, Ricoh will own a 51 percent stake, while IBM’s stake will be 49 percent. After three years, Ricoh will gain full control over the business.

The deal called for the InfoPrint Solutions Company to be operating as a separate entity by the end of the second quarter, a deadline that the company made. In its June announcement, the new company says IBM will provide maintenance services for the next year, after which more than 1,000 IBM printer maintenance specialists may join the new company, subject to local business conditions and completion of local information and consultation processes. IBM’s printing business generated more than $1 billion in revenue last year, the companies say.

In other news, the new company launched its first new product, the InfoPrint Color 1767, which becomes available Friday. The 1767 is a wide-format (A3) printer that offers high-quality, high-volume color print solutions with flexible paper handling and networking options. It can print black and white documents at the rate of 45 pages per minute; print color documents at up to 40 pages per minute; supports IPDS, PCL, PostScript, and PDF print jobs; weights 252 pounds; and comes with a starting price of $4,640, according to the IBM hardware announcement letter.