Xerox
Still here, which took some doing
XEROX
The 1990s edition called Xerox’s self-cannibalisation “to its lasting credit.” The credit came due almost immediately — this is how the inventor of the category nearly lost it, and what it paid to stay at the table.
Nobody warned readers of the 1990s edition what 2000–02 would look like from the inside: a sales collapse, an SEC accounting investigation, and boardroom talk of bankruptcy that was not hypothetical. Paul Allaire and incoming president Anne Mulcahy launched a Turnaround Program in October 2000 aimed at a billion dollars in annual cuts, and paid for survival by selling the family silver — the China operations to Fuji Xerox for $550 million, then half the Fuji Xerox stake to Fuji Photo Film for $1.28 billion. Mulcahy took the chair in January 2002; Xerox closed that year profitable, having mortgaged the partnership that carried its name across two continents.
The rebuilding took the rest of the decade and the next one. Xerox spun off its outsourcing arm as Conduent at the end of 2016, returning to a pure document-technology identity, then staged the largest product launch in its history five months later — 29 ConnectKey devices, AltaLink for the workgroup and VersaLink for the desk, replacing WorkCentre wholesale. In November 2019 the Fuji Xerox marriage that survived the mortgaging ended anyway, its remaining stake sold to Fujifilm for roughly $2.2 billion. What began as a rescue asset was, in the end, simply sold.
A $35 billion hostile bid for HP followed in late 2019, rejected and dropped as COVID reordered the market. The 2020s brought quieter work — Nuvera and iGen wound down, ITsavvy bought for IT-services muscle — before the era’s defining move: the $1.5 billion purchase of Lexmark, closed 1 July 2025, reuniting two rivals of thirty years’ standing and buying back a printer maker itself Chinese-owned since 2016. Combined, Xerox now claims 200,000-plus clients in 170-plus countries. Xerox proper keeps A3 office and production; Lexmark keeps A4 and the small-business desk, a second badge under one roof.
The 2026 range reflects a company defending what it holds. AltaLink and VersaLink anchor the office on the 2016 ConnectKey platform, both now shipping AI-assisted redaction and summarising as standard. PrimeLink covers light production; Versant and Iridesse the colour presses, Iridesse alone still laying gold, silver, white, clear or fluorescent pink in one pass; Baltoro HF carries the inkjet flag. A company running the machines it had, while it digests the largest acquisition of its post-Conduent life.
Xerox — The Range, 2026
| Model | Year | PPM | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|
| AltaLink C8030–C8070 | 2016 | 30–70 | Launch-generation colour; superseded, no longer sold new |
| AltaLink B8045–B8090 | 2016 | 45–90 | Launch-generation mono workhorse |
| AltaLink C8230–C8270 | 2024 | 30–70 | Plate No. 3; current flagship, AI apps standard |
| AltaLink B8245–B8270 | 2024–25 | 45–72 | Current flagship mono generation |
| VersaLink C7120–C7130 | c. 2022 | 20–30 | Current A4/light-A3 colour MFP, integrated finisher option |
| VersaLink B7125–B7135 | c. 2022 | 25–35 | Current A4/light-A3 mono MFP |
| VersaLink C415 / C625 | — | 42 / 52 | Compact colour MFPs for workteams of 2–20 |
| PrimeLink C9065/C9070 | 2019 | 65/70 | Light-production entry point, replaced the C60/C70 |
| PrimeLink C9200 series | — | 65–81 | Banner sheets to 13×51in, 400gsm max |
| Versant 4100 | current | 100 | “Scan, Load and Go” PredictPrint media management |
| Iridesse | 2018 | up to 120 | Six dry-ink stations: CMYK plus gold, silver, white, clear, fluorescent pink |
| Baltoro HF | 2019 | up to 197 | High Fusion inkjet, no primer/precoat step, in-line spectrophotometer |
| Nuvera / iGen | wound down | — | Discontinued; fulfilment continued only through/near 2024 |
The badge that eroded, and the one bought back
Reuniting Xerox and Lexmark closes a loop that opened in 1991, when Lexmark was spun off IBM’s printer division and spent the following decades as a rival in the same office-supplies aisle. It reached Chinese ownership in 2016 under a Ninestar-led consortium; Xerox bought it back for $1.5 billion, completed 1 July 2025, and the combined company now claims a top-five position in every major print segment and clients in 170-plus countries. For now Lexmark keeps its own name and its own A4/small-business lane, covered separately in this register — a second badge under one roof, which is either sensible segmentation or a hedge against having to explain, again, what “Xerox” now covers.
A chief executive changes mid-integration
Steve Bandrowczak, who led both the Lexmark and ITsavvy integrations, stepped down as chief executive on 30 March 2026 — less than nine months after the Lexmark deal closed. The board named chief operating officer Louie Pastor his successor the same day and reaffirmed 2026 guidance built on Lexmark synergies, a $300 million target. The research department declines to adjudicate whether that reads as stability or turbulence, and notes only that the guidance was reaffirmed rather than revised.
THE VERDICT — XEROX
Invented the category, nearly lost it, sold the family firm twice to stay solvent, and has just bought its oldest rival to keep the lights on. The one thing it has never done is leave the room.