Xerox and Heidelbergs war of words over their digital colour presses made it into the pages of The Wall Street Journal this week.

Comments by Xerox chief executive Anne Mulcahy to a reporter denigrating Heidelbergs NexPress led to both firms receiving major coverage in the paper.

He was planning just to write about FutureColor, we wouldnt even have got a mention, said Heidelberg Digital director communications Douglas Sprei. Heidelberg is a German printing equipment company, were not going to be on the cover of a US business paper.

It was well timed for Print 01, he added.

As well as claiming that the NexPress offered no major technology breakthroughs, the article also said that Mulcahy promised to dethrone Heidelberg as the printing industry leader by the end of 2002.

For the long term well overtake Heidelberg in the graphic arts, said Larry Vogel, Xerox Europe head of public relations. Im not positive well reach that by 2002, but we should shortly after.

He said that Xeroxs turnover from graphic arts was currently 2bn ($3bn) compared with about 3.3bn for Heidelberg.

The companies are also engaged in a war over the quoted cost per page, reminiscent of the battle between Indigo and Xeikon at Ipex 98.

Heidelberg Digital president Wolfgang Pfizenmaier poured scorn on Xeroxs five cents per page cost and was quoted as saying: Our strategy is not to fool our customers with crazy figures.

Story by Barney Cox