Rivals Canon, Xerox Unveil Expansions

Canon U.S.A. Inc. is taking aim at Xerox Corp. and Xerox is widening its assault on Hewlett-Packard Co., as competition heats up in the multibillion-dollar U.S. market for copiers and computer printers. Zooming in on a traditional Xerox stronghold, Canon, a unit of Japan’s Canon Inc., said it plans to enter three new printer market segments, including high-volume copying and printing, and offer a new product in its existing high-speed color printer business. Xerox, meanwhile, said it plans to expand its inkjet printer business in a new assault on Hewlett-Packard, the market leader in desktop computer printers with a nearly 60% market share. Xerox, with a 10% share of that market, said it is expanding a plant near Rochester, N.Y., that makes ink tanks and print heads for various printer products and is buying a second facility nearby in a move that would create 400 new jobs. Canon set aggressive goals for entering its new markets, saying that within two years it intends to gain up to 20% of segments of the medium- and high-volume printer market, where Xerox now leads. Canon, with $7.3 billion in revenue from North America, also said it expects to derive an additional $1 billion in annual revenue from these new businesses by the end of 2000. Xerox had revenue of $18 billion in 1997. On the NYSE, Xerox shares rose $4.75 to close at $107.13 and HP rose $1.75 cents to close at $57. Canon’s American depositary receipts rose 38 cents to close at $22.25 on Nasdaq.