The three OEMs follow in Xerox¡¯s footsteps with less than positive quarterly results, with Canon¡¯s president stepping down and Epson¡¯s inkjet sales disappointing.

Epson

Epson¡¯s reports were described as ¡°not pretty¡± by Actionable Intelligence, with particular reference made by the OEM to weak inkjet sales in Q3 2011. Net sales for the first nine months (or three quarters) of 2011 fell 11.1 percent over the year before, and net income sharply fell again for the second year. Epson¡¯s net sales were $8.54 billion (€6.47 billion), which showed a decline compared to two years previously, and its operating income fell 37.7 percent.

he OEM blamed weak demand for printers and cartridges, with sales flat in Europe and North America, as well as shipments being ¡°hurt by fierce competition in Asia¡±. However, inkjet printer demand grew in China and other Asian markets, as well as unit shipments of wide-format devices.

Canon

Canon¡¯s financial results for 2011 were poor enough to cause a major management casualty, with a slip in general sales and flat results in inkjet printer sales undoing the positive results from its photography areas.

As many of the other OEMs cited, Canon was particularly affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan as well as flooding in Thailand, with inkjet printer and compact camera production disrupted. Financially, the company¡¯s net sales fell four percent to $45.6 million (€34.8 million), with net income only rising by 0.8 percent to $3,187,564 (€2.43 million). The OEM projects 5.4 percent sales growth globally, but this was not enough to prevent President and COO Tsuneji Ichida from stepping down from his roles in the company.

Ichida will step down on 29 March, and will retain a role as senior advisor, with the reason from Canon given that Ichida stepped down to ¡°promote steady advancement towards achieving the Company¡¯s goals¡±.

Lexmark

Lexmark¡¯s report covered Q4 results, with the OEM taking a slightly different year view to the other OEMs.

Chairman and COO Paul Rooke noted that ¡°2011 was a good year for Lexmark given the challenging global economic environment¡±, adding that the results showed ¡°record laser supplies revenue, record gross profit margin and a strong operating income margin¡±.

The figures themselves however present a mixed bag, with hardware revenue of $989 million (€754.6 million) a decline of seven percent over the previous year, whilst supplies revenue of $2.912 billion (€2.22 billion) was flat throughout 2011. The company¡¯s core revenue, which incorporates laser and business inkjet hardware and supplies as well as MPS, grew seven percent, but legacy revenue, which includes consumer inkjet hardware, fell a large 35 percent.

Total revenue of $4.173 billion (€3.18 billion) showed a decline from 2010 figures of $4.200 billion (€3.2 billion), and in Q4 alone, hardware revenue fell by nine percent, whilst supplies revenue fell three percent.