Canon reaches for the stars
Canon's CBS division is poised to take on a leading role in digital printing.
important year," explains Christian Mossner, Marketing Director Canon
Business Solutions (CBS) at Canon Switzerland, on the occasion of a recent
media orientation. It certainly has to: the Swiss
subsidiary of the Japanese technology giant recently acquired a
reported a significant decline in profits. While the lower
While the product ranges grew, sales stagnated at the same time.
of the higher-value products. This could also be related to the direction announced in advance: Canon has
already indicated at the Drupa trade fair in May 2004 that the
digital printing area is to be expanded and thus certainly also in the
This has led to restraint on the part of some companies.
But the wait will soon be over. At the Ipex trade fair, which takes place in
April (see box), Canon will be introducing new products and
is expanding the CBS division on an unprecedented scale. The company
shows in the segments black-and-white printing, color printing and
Large format printing more than 20 new products. Below by segment
the most important.
Black and white printing segment
The launch of new black-and-white digital printing systems rounds off the
the company has expanded its PPS black-and-white printing range (Professional
Printing Solutions) downwards. While the ImageRunner products
iR125VP and iR150VP are not developed and produced by Canon, but
are sold as OEM products, the products that will soon be available on the
iR7105, iR7095 and iR7086 models presented at Ipex to be based on a
new developments based on the new platform. The new ones, which according to
Siegfried Alder, Product Manager PPS, for up to 24 million
print/copy are designed, especially with modularity
score points: These printing systems, which will be available immediately after Ipex in
will be available in Switzerland will be equipped with adhesive binders
- a novelty in this class. In other respects too, the new
ImageRunner are flexible and can be expanded to include professional pinhole and
Punching units, inserters, devices for wire stitching and others
modules can be added.
Color printing segment
In the color printing segment, Canon will be presenting further developed
color printers in its CLC series. In addition to a new
four-drum system, the devices have a print resolution of
1200 dpi. The newly named CLC4141 and CLC5151 color printers are to be
will be launched this summer.
Last fall, Canon announced that the company would be working with the
Launch of new printing systems at Ipex in the professional and
high-quality digital color printing. With the
Digital printing machines imagePress X and imagePress Y (the letters
are placeholders; the definitive designation will follow with the launch)
Canon is now presenting its new color printing platform for the first time to a broad
graphic arts professionals.
The new flagship, the imagePress X, is a 70
pages/minute very fast, modular color digital printing system in the
A3+ format. This also prints with a resolution of 1200 dpi. As
Canon also emphasizes the fact that the printing system can be used with a
new type of air-supported paper guide for thicker papers no
loss of speed - and that offset grids, both dot
as well as line grids can be simulated. As a new player
in this segment, the company is apparently targeting products such as
HP Indigo press 5000, Kodak Nexpress 2100, Océ CPS900 Platinum, Xerox
Doculor iGen3 or Xeikon 5000, but interested parties must register by
to the fourth quarter of 2006, prices can already be announced at the Ipex
can be found out here. The ImagePress Y, on the other hand, will be available from
be available in summer 2006.
Large format printing segment
With a very broad line-up, Canon is now, quite unexpectedly, also attacking
for the stars in large format printing. Under the
ImagePrograf brand, Canon will be launching a total of seven
new products onto the market. These can be used for digital printing
of photos, posters, posters and decorations, for the reproduction of
works of art (on special canvas materials) as well as for the production of
of flags or banners as indoor and outdoor advertising media and the like
use. With the new ImagePrograf printers, Canon covers the
format range from 17 to 60 inches (43 - 152 cm) and is thus offering products for the first time to work with the
to compete with market leaders HP and Epson. "Here we can
only gain market share," explains Irene Förg, Product Marketing
Manager LFP, on entering the market.
Of interest to offset printers is the new Canon DoubleProofer
W8400: This double-sided printer can be connected to the most common workflows.
printer is therefore ideal as a form proof.
Jürgen Franck
Graphics platform
The Ipex trade fair is a trade fair and platform for the
graphic arts industry. It takes place every four years at the National Exhibition
Centre (NEC) in Birmingham.
This year, Ipex will be held between April 4 and 7. (jf)
