Lexmark to launch 38 new printers October 20, 2008 15:56 by John Sollars

Lexmark International will announce one of its largest product launches in its history on Monday morning.

The launch of 38 models of laser printers comes in advance of Tuesday's third-quarter earnings announcement.

Among the new lineup is the company's next generation of colour laser printers that it boasts are the smallest in their product classes.

It also is starting a customer rewards program for the new line of colour lasers. It is similar to one that had been in place for inkjet printers. And it's guaranteeing customers that it won't raise the price of that colour toner during the products' lifetimes.

The lineups include new colour laser single-function and multi-function printers that can scan, copy and fax.

The company is hoping the smaller size and lower prices of the new colour laser lineup will persuade companies to ditch leased copiers in favour of Lexmark products.

The Lexmark Rewards Program is being extended to the colour laser C540 and X540 model series.

Under the program, once customers buy and return 10 of any cartridges for those models, they'll receive their choice of a free cartridge that prints the most pages of any type sold.

The company's also releasing new lines of its single and multi-function black and white printers, as well as a new E series of smaller black and white printers.

"It's unusual for us to have so many launch at once," said Keith Jones, vice president of worldwide marketing for the company's laser printer division. "It's just the way it worked out."

Among some of the added features to the new T, E, X54xe and X65xe families of printers are increased print speeds, cartridges that print more pages and wireless options on some.

The company also expanded its "eco-mode," which reduces power consumption, and quiet mode from the previous E series line to the entire lineup.

The E series also saw its printer engines tweaked for improved print quality, Jones said.