The new press, designed as a versatile entry-level production press for both commercial and departmental print teams, will see its first installations in Q4 2024, with a full transition from the older Primelink C9070 by Q1 2025.
Capable of handling media up to 400gsm or 350gsm on auto-duplex, the C9200 series prints with a toner formulation similar to that used in the Iridesse, and is modifiable with a variety of feeder and finishing add-ons.
The press will start at around $20,000-$50,000 (£15,250-£38,100).
Terry Antinora, Xerox’s head of product and engineering, told Printweek that the new press could confidently straddle the increasingly blurred boundary between high-end departmental or in-house production environments, and smaller or medium-sized printhouses that need versatile printers with small footprints.
“The small footprint, the price point, its versatility and high output quality – these are all things that should attract printers,” he said.
“We often hear that versatility really helps printers with those edge jobs. As workflow changes, it becomes more and more important.”
Also on show at Xerox’s booth was its updated Versant 280, and Iridesse, both out for their first tradeshow since they were upgraded with new firmware in April, with the Iridesse notably gaining an extended gamut of pink tones.
“For us, the emphasis is on the ecosystem and capabilities we can build around our presses,” Antinora said.
One new product in that arena is Xerox’s FreeFlow software, launched in April, which is also receiving its global debut at the show as a “fully functional dashboard and analytics package”.
Printing United is Xerox’s first major trade show this year, following its decision not to exhibit at Drupa, and the company is in the midst of what it announced in January 2024 as a “reinvention”.
“In the last decade, there’s been a dramatic shift in the way people operate,” Antinora said.
“We’ve seen a whole host of changes that have driven a need for us to reinvent the company, changing processes, reorganising the way we’re structured into a much flatter organisation and reinventing our portfolio to really align with the changing needs within the marketplace.”
Announcing the end of production of iGen and Nuvera devices in April, the firm has recently started working with Screen to provide high-speed continuous inkjet hardware to its customers.
“Our portfolios don’t overlap, so it’s a very logical partnership for us right now,” Antinora added.
While the agreement is for now Americas-only, hardware under the partnership, he said, should be available in 2025.
“Our belief is that we don’t need to be a manufacturer to provide value to a client,” Antinora said.
“We’re going to consistently take on strategic partners: Fujifilm is one of our biggest, Screen, who [we are] working with today, and others that we’re in discussions with to really round out our portfolio – think packaging, label presses. These are areas where we’re actively working with hardware providers to round out with our software ecosystem and services capability.”
Xerox’s wide network and support system continues to be a major selling point to customers, Antinora said.
“Frankly, when clients pick us, it tends to be because we can offer the whole ecosystem. The relationship, the service, the support, and the solutions. That’s how we distinguish ourselves.”
