| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | NYSE: XRX S&P 500 Component |
| Industry | Document services, Digital imaging, Computer peripherals |
| Founded | Rochester, New York, U.S. (1906) |
| Headquarters | Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Key people | Ursula Burns (Chairwoman & CEO) |
| Products | Copiers, displays, faxes, printers, projectors, scanners |
| Revenue | US$ 21.633 billion (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | US$ 2,076 billion (2010)[1] |
| Net income | US$ 1.296 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total assets | US$ 30.600 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total equity | US$ 12.159 billion (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 136,500 (2010)[1] |
| Website | Xerox.com |
Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) ( /ˈzɪərɒks/) is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (moved from Stamford, Connecticut in October 2007),[2] though its largest population of employees is based in and around Rochester, New York, the area in which the company was founded. On September 28, 2009, Xerox announced the intended acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4 billion. The deal closed on February 8, 2010.[3] Xerox holds a Royal Warrant from HM Queen Elizabeth II and the Prince of Wales.[4]
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Xerox was founded in 1906 in Rochester as The Haloid Photographic Company,[5] which originally manufactured photographic paper and equipment. The company subsequently changed its name to Haloid Xerox in 1958 and then simply Xerox in 1961.[6] Xerography, a moder word meaning "dry writing" developed from two Greek roots, is the name of the process invented in 1938 and developed by Haloid Company. The company came to prominence in 1959 with the introduction of the Xerox 914,[7] the first plain paper photocopier using the process of Electro-photography, (later changed to xerography) developed by Chester Carlson.[8] The 914 was so popular that by the end of 1961, Xerox had almost $60 million in revenue. By 1965, revenues leaped to over $500 million. Before releasing the 914, Xerox had tested the market by introducing a developed version of the prototype Hand equipment, known as the Flat-plate 1385. This was followed by the first automatic xerographic printer, the Copyflo, in 1955. The Copyflo was a large microfilm printer, producing positive prints, on roll paper, from any type of microfilm negative. Following the Copyflo, the process was scaled down to produce the 1824 microfilm printer. At about half the size and weight this, still sizable, machine printed onto hand fed, cut sheet paper which was pulled through the process by one of two gripper bars. This gripper feed system, when scaled down, was to become the basis for the 813 desktop copier.
In 1963, Xerox introduced the Xerox 813, the first desktop plain-paper copier, bringing Carlson's vision of a copier that could fit on anyone's office desk into a reality. Ten years later in 1973, a basic, analogue, color copier, based on the 914, followed. The 914 itself was gradually speeded up to become the 420 and 720. The 813 was similarly developed into the 330 and 660 products and, eventually, also the 740 desktop microfiche printer.
Chester Carlson's original hand equipment, which saw the market as the 1385 Flatplate, was not actually a viable copier because of its speed of operation. In consequence it was sold as a platemaker to the offset lithography market. It was little more than a high quality, commercially available plate camera, mounted as a horizontal rostrum camera, complete with photo-flood lighting and timer. The glass film/plate, however, had been replaced with an aluminum plate, coated in selenium. Clever electrics turned this into a quick developing and reusable substitute for film. A skilled user could produce fast, paper and metal printing plates of a higher quality than almost any other method. Having started as a supplier to the offset litho. duplicating industry, Xerox now set its sights on capturing some of offset's market share.
Xerox's first foray into duplicating, as distinct from copying, was with the Xerox 2400. This number denoted the number of prints produced in an hour. Although still some way short of offset speeds, this machine introduced the industry's first Automatic Document Feeder, Slitter/Perforator and Collator (sorter). This product was soon sped up, fifty percent, to become the Xerox 3600 Duplicator.
As an aside, whilst all the above was going on, in a small lab a team was borrowing copiers, off the line, and modifying them. Called the Long Distance Xerography project (LDX for short) and beginning with 914s, the aim was to be able to connect two copiers together, via the public telephone network, such that a document scanned on one machine would be copied out on the other. Many years later this work came to fruition in the Xerox Telecopiers, seminal to today's fax machines. The fax operation in today's multifunction copiers is true to Carlson's original vision for these devices.
The company expanded substantially throughout the 1960s, making millionaires of some long-suffering investors who had nursed the company through the slow research and development phase of the product. In 1960, the Wilson Center for Research and Technology was opened in Webster, New York, a research facility for xerography. Then in 1961, the company changed its name to Xerox Corporation. Xerox common stock (XRX) was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1961 and on the Chicago Stock Exchange in 1990.
In 1969, Xerox acquired Scientific Data Systems [SDS], and produced the Sigma line of 32-bit mainframe computers in the 1960s and 1970s.
The laser printer was invented in 1969 by Xerox researcher Gary Starkweather by modifying a Xerox copier. This development resulted in the first commercially available laser printer, the Xerox 9700, being launched in 1977. Laser printing eventually became a multi billion dollar business for Xerox. Archie McCardell was named president of the company in 1971.[9] During his tenure, Xerox introduced the Xerox 6500, its first color copier.[10] During McCardell's reign at Xerox, the company announced record revenues, earnings and profits in 1973, 1974, and 1975.[11] John Carrol became a backer, later spreading the company throughout North America.
Following these years of record profits, in 1975 Xerox resolved an anti-trust suit with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which at the time was under the direction of Frederic M. Scherer. The Xerox consent decree resulted in the forced licensing of the company’s entire patent portfolio, mainly to Japanese competitors. Within four years of the consent decree, Xerox's share of the U.S. copier market dropped from nearly 100% to less than 14%.
In 1970, under company president Charles Peter McColough, Xerox opened the Xerox PARC (Xerox Palo Alto Research Center) research facility. The facility developed many modern computing technologies such as the graphical user interface (GUI), Laser printing, WYSIWYG text editors and Ethernet. From these inventions, Xerox PARC created the Xerox Alto in 1973, a small minicomputer similar to a modern workstation or personal computer. This machine can be considered the first true Personal Computer, given its versatile combination of a cathode-ray-type screen, mouse-type pointing device, and a QWERTY-type alphanumeric keyboard. But the Alto was never commercially sold, as Xerox itself could not see the sales potential of it. It was, however, installed in Xerox's own offices, worldwide and those of the US Government and military, who could see the potential. Within these sites the individual workstations were connected together by Xerox's own unique LAN, The Ethernet. Data was sent around this system of heavy, yellow, low loss coaxial cable using the packet data system. In addition, PARC also developed one of the earliest internetworking protocol suites, the PARC Universal Packet.
In 1979, Steve Jobs made a deal with Xerox's venture capital division: He would let them invest $1 million in exchange for a look at the technology they were working on. Jobs and the others saw the commercial potential of the WIMP (Window, Icon, Menu, and Pointing device) system and redirected development of the Apple Lisa to incorporate these technologies. Jobs is quoted as saying, "They just had no idea what they had." In 1980, Jobs invited several key PARC researchers to join his company so that they could fully develop and implement their ideas.
In 1981 Xerox released a system similar to the Alto, the Xerox 8010 Star. It was the first commercial system to incorporate technologies that have subsequently become commonplace in personal computers, such as a bitmapped display, window-based GUI, mouse, Ethernet networking, file servers, print servers and e-mail. The Xerox 6085 Star, despite its technological breakthroughs, did not sell well due to its high price, costing $16,000 per unit. A typical Xerox Star-based office, complete with network and printers, would have cost $100,000.
In the mid 1980s, Apple considered buying Xerox; however, a deal was never reached. Apple instead bought rights to the Alto GUI and adapted it into to a more affordable personal computer, aimed towards the business and education markets. The Apple Macintosh was released in 1984, and was the first personal computer to popularize the GUI and mouse amongst the public.
The company was revived in the 1980s and 1990s, through improvement in quality design and realignment of its product line. Development of digital photocopiers in the 1990s and a revamp of the entire product range—essentially high-end laser printers with attached scanners, known as Multi Function Machines, or just MFMs, these were able to be attached to computer networks—again gave Xerox a technical lead over its competitors. Xerox worked to turn its product into a service, providing a complete document service to companies including supply, maintenance, configuration, and user support. To reinforce this image, the company introduced a corporate signature, "The Document Company" above its main logo and introduced a red digital X. The digital X symbolized the transition of documents between the paper and digital worlds.
In 2000, Xerox acquired Tektronix color printing and imaging division in Wilsonville, Oregon, for US$925 million. This led to the current Xerox Phaser line of products as well as Xerox solid ink printing technology.
In September 2004, Xerox celebrated the 45th anniversary of the Xerox 914. More than 200,000 units were made around the world between 1959 and 1976, the year production of the 914 was stopped. Today, the 914 is part of American history as an artifact in the Smithsonian Institution.
Xerox's turnaround was largely led by Anne M. Mulcahy, who was appointed president in May 2000, CEO in August 2001 and chairman in January 2002.[12] Mulcahy launched an aggressive turnaround plan that returned Xerox to full-year profitability by the end of 2002, along with decreasing debt, increasing cash, and continuing to invest in research and development.
In November 2006 Xerox completed the Acquisition of XMPie.[13]
In October 2008, Xerox Canada Ltd. was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the Toronto Star newspaper.[14]
On May 21, 2009, it was announced that Ursula Burns would succeed Anne Mulcahy as CEO of Xerox. On July 1, 2009, Burns became the first African American woman to head a company the size of Xerox.
On September 28, 2009, Xerox announced the intended acquisition of Affiliated Computer Services for $6.4 Billion. The acquisition was completed in February 2010. Xerox said it paid 4.935 Xerox shares and $18.60 cash for each share of ACS, totaling $6.4 billion, or $63.11 a share for the company.[15]
In May 2011, Xerox acquired NewField IT for an undisclosed sum.[16] NewField IT developed the Asset DB toolset which is widely used across the MPS Market along with MPS market leading consulting and software services delivering a large impact for this relatively small acquisition. [17]
| Name | Title | Tenure | Photo |
|---|---|---|---|
| George C. Seager | President | 1906–1912 | |
| Gilbert E. Mosher | President | 1912–1938 | |
| Joseph R. Wilson | President | 1938–1946 | |
| Joseph C. Wilson | President CEO |
1946–1966 1961–1967 |
|
| C. Peter McColough | CEO | 1968–1982 | |
| David T. Kearns | CEO | 1982 – July 31, 1990 | |
| Paul A. Allaire | CEO | August 1, 1990 – April 6, 1999 | |
| G. Richard Thoman | CEO | April 7, 1999 – May 10, 2000 | |
| Paul A. Allaire | CEO | May 11, 2000 – July 31, 2001 | |
| Anne M. Mulcahy | CEO | August 1, 2001 – July 1, 2009 | |
| Ursula M. Burns | CEO | July 1, 2009 – present |
Xerox today manufactures and sells a wide variety of office and production equipment including LCD Monitors, photo copiers, Xerox Phaser printers, multifunction printers, large-volume digital printers as well as workflow software under the brand strategy of FreeFlow. The impact of Xerox FreeFlow products on the graphic arts market and the print industry in general has grown exponentially since May 2006, largely as a result of the Xerox presence at IPEX 2006. Xerox also sells scanners and digital presses. On 29 May 2008, Xerox launched the Xerox iGen4 Press.
Xerox sells both color and black and white printers under the Xerox Phaser brand, with the color consumer model starting at US$299; the most expensive color model costs US$6,799.
Xerox also produces fax machines, professional printers, black and white copiers,[18] and several other products.
In addition, Xerox produces many printing and office supplies such as paper, in many forms; and markets software such as Xerox DocuShare, Xerox MarketPort and FlowPort, offers consulting services, ECM Digital Repository Services and printing outsourcing.
Although Xerox is a global brand, it maintains a joint venture, Fuji Xerox, with Japanese photographic firm Fuji Photo Film Co. to develop, produce and sell in the Asia-Pacific region. Fuji Photo Film Co. is currently the majority stakeholder, with 75% of the shareholding.
Xerox India, formerly Modi Xerox, is Xerox's Indian subsidiary derived from a joint venture formed between Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Modi and Rank Xerox in 1983. Xerox obtained a majority stake in 1999 and aims to buy out the remaining shareholders.[19]
NewField IT is a wholy owned subsidiary of Xerox that implements and supports third party software for MPS providers.[17]
Xerox now sponsors the Factory Ducati Team in the World Superbike Championship, under the name of the "Xerox Ducati".
European operations, Rank Xerox, later extended to Asia and Africa, has been fully owned by Xerox Corporation since 1997. The Rank Xerox name was discontinued following the buyout, and the Rank Xerox Research Centre was renamed to the Xerox Research Centre Europe.
On April 11, 2002, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a complaint against Xerox.[20] The complaint alleged Xerox deceived the public between 1997 and 2000 by employing several "accounting maneuvers," the most significant of which was a change in which Xerox recorded revenue from copy machine leases – recognizing a "sale" when a lease contract was signed, instead of recognizing revenue over the entire length of the contract. At issue was when the revenue was recognized, not the validity of the revenue. Xerox's restatement only changed what year the revenue was recognized.
In response to the SEC's complaint, Xerox Corporation neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing. It agreed to pay a $10 million penalty and to restate its financial results for the years 1997 through 2000. On June 5, 2003, six Xerox senior executives accused of securities fraud settled their issues with the SEC and neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing. They agreed to pay $22 million in penalties, disgorgement, and interest.
On January 29, 2003, the SEC filed a complaint against Xerox's auditors,[21] KPMG, alleging four partners in the "Big Five" accounting firm permitted Xerox to "cook the books" to fill a $3 billion "gap" in revenue and $1.4 billion "gap" in pre-tax earnings. In April 2005 KPMG settled with the SEC by paying a US$22.48 million fine.[22] As part of the settlement KPMG neither admits nor denies wrongdoings. During settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Xerox began to revamp itself once more. As a symbol of this transformation, the relative size of the word "Xerox" was increased in proportion to "The Document Company" on the corporate signature and the latter was dropped altogether in September-2004, along with the digital X. However, the digital X and "The Document Company" were still used by Fuji Xerox until April-2008.
The word "xerox" is commonly used as a synonym for "photocopy" (both as a noun and a verb) in many areas; for example,"I xeroxed the document and placed it on your desk." or "Please make a xeroxed copy of the articles and hand them out a week before the exam". Though both are common, the company does not condone such uses of its trademark, and is particularly concerned about the ongoing use of Xerox as a verb as this places the trademark in danger of being declared a generic word by the courts. The company is engaged in an ongoing advertising and media campaign to convince the public that Xerox should not be used as a verb.[23][24]
To this end, the company has written no publications that have used Xerox as a verb, and has also purchased print advertisements declaring that "you cannot 'xerox' a document, but you can copy it on a Xerox Brand copying machine". Xerox Corporation continues to protect its trademark in most if not all trademark categories. Despite their efforts, many dictionaries continue to include the use of "xerox" as a verb, including the Oxford English Dictionary.
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