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SHARP SAYS GOODBYE TO COPIERS – HELLO TO PORTALS

By Andy Slawetsky

      This May, we were invited to attend the Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA) dealer meeting in Orlando Florida.  From the moment we arrived, we were engulfed in solutions. Even the hotel check-in process had a solution wrapped around it as it involved walking up to one of several Sharp MFPs and following the steps on the touch screen.  The devices were equipped with webcams, one of which took my picture, showed the image on the touch screen and resulted in a colorful name badge that had my picture on it.  I completed this process with no help from Sharp.  While it was nice to have finally arrived at the hotel, it was very impressive to use the MFP equipped with Sharp’s Open Systems Architecture (OSA) platform as a check-in kiosk. It showed just one of many uses Sharp has found for their devices outside of typical copying and printing.

      Our event began with a private showing of Sharp’s forthcoming products and a tongue-in-cheek announcement from our host, President Ed McLaughlin, stating that Sharp was no longer in the copier business – they were now selling imaging devices and solutions – “portals” in Ed’s view. McLaughlin is known for his bold statements and while that one may not have been as strong as it sounds, some of his other messages were.  According to McLaughlin, Sharp will be the number one or two MFP company in the U.S. within five years.  These are strong words from the president of a company that might not be in the top five at this point, depending on whose numbers you use.  Time will tell.

      Sharp used to be in those number one and two positions back in the analog days when they were a dominant player in the personal copier market.  Since their exit, unit shipments have fallen drastically. But, realistically, they walked away from an expensive retail distribution channel that typically offers very little profit.  Sharp made a conscious decision to exit retail (with respect to imaging devices) and focus on higher volume devices that are far more profitable.  Indeed, last year’s announcement of their Hercules production MFP has apparently been a wild success.  Sharp claims to have sold over 1,000 units (85, 95, and 110 PPM) in their first four months alone, besting some analyst speculation that they wouldn’t sell even as many as 100 in the first full year.

      But that was last year and now it’s time to look ahead.  Like the rest of the industry, Sharp has finally jumped on board the A4 product train.  Sharp isn’t just jumping on this train; they’re pouncing onto the engine and driving it, with 18 color and monochrome devices that will be rolled out over the next six-to-eight months.  These printers and MFPs (not All-in-One devices as most vendors sell in this space) are Segments 3 and 4 and all will support Sharp’s third generation of OSA.  The new line allows for remote access and device management.

      OK, enough of the background information.  Let’s talk about how these machines look.  There’s no other way to say it.  They look awesome, with a brushed metal-looking control panel, 4.5” and 8.5” color LCD screens made by one of the world’s premier LCD manufacturer (guess who) meaning these screens look incredible. Each unit has a textured front panel with metal paper tray handles, giving the devices a rugged industrial feel.  They are easily the best looking machines in the industry and while it has absolutely no reflection on performance or reliability, I have no doubt that this high-tech design will help give Sharp sales reps a nice edge against competitors.

      Sharp also announced their second generation of color workgroup devices with the new 26-PPM MX-2600N and 31-PPM MX-3100N, which support OSA 3.0, feature remote access and device management capabilities and the same 8.5” color LCD. 

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