Is Xerox Back in the Driving Seat of Production Print?

March 9, 2026
Production Printing, Channel, Article, Trends

On 25th February 2026, Quocirca joined Xerox partners from 17 countries at the Xerox Innovation Centre in Uxbridge for the launch of the company’s production print strategy. Drawing on its partnership with Aston Martin Formula 1, Xerox brought energy, pace, and technical expertise to the forefront as it set out its agenda for taking pole position in production print.

The event was led by a Xerox team stacked with senior executives, underscoring its strategic importance. CMO Darren Cassidy; CRO Jacques-Edouard Gueden; President, Global Production Print, Terry Antinora; and Matthew Raab, Global Portfolio Marketing Director, delivered confident presentations articulating the company’s vision for the sector.

There was a strong message of intent from CRO Jacques-Edouard Gueden as he outlined a “new era” comprising a dedicated global production and services division headed by “leaders who understand the industry”. The Xerox approach is anchored in product excellence, ecosystem innovation, and partnership, recognising the forces reshaping the sector and the need to ensure product and software innovations are supported by effective go-to-market support.

Partnership key to strategic approach

Terry Antinora has been in a rare position over the past few years, given a free hand to completely redesign the Xerox product portfolio to target key segments of the growing production print market. He outlined the market and resulting product roadmap, which is focused on maintaining existing strength in entry-level production colour, while also expanding to target the B3 inkjet and labels market.

Terry’s lead message was “partnership”, as he outlined the business’s ambitions to enter new market segments. Xerox has already launched its IJP900 inkjet press, based on a Kyocera engine following a partnership announced in July 2025, and plans further products within the agreement.

However, the company is clear that hardware is only one aspect of its portfolio. It differentiates its offering through advanced Xerox software, workflow automation, and the service ecosystem surrounding devices.

The event showcased the two devices launched under the new Proficio brand, which will attach to future products. These are designed to take the market ‘Beyond CMYK’, offering an optional fifth colour station for fluorescent pink, clear, and low gloss clear printing.

Taking on market disruption

The production print market is experiencing considerable disruption, putting pressure on business models and productivity. Global portfolio marketing director Matthew Raab outlined the headwinds facing the sector:

• Print run numbers are rising, but their composition is changing, with more short runs and faster turnaround times.
• Too many touchpoints in the process resulting in lost time and ultimately lower profits
• Rising energy and material costs
• Labour shortages as the skilled workforce ages out

Raab acknowledged that these are not temporary pressures, but permanent changes to the production print environment and print services providers.

In response, Xerox is prioritising key areas aimed at helping partners compete on differentiation:

Ease of use: devices, software, and automation are designed to reduce dependency on skilled labour and deliver optimum quality. Xerox recognises that individuals typically manage multiple presses, and has introduced light sabre-like status lights to make monitoring easier. Its Freeflow Vision Connect solution also monitors jobs and device health, identifying issues such as bottlenecks and performance issues before they impact productivity and profitability.

Always-on functionality: Xerox will help customers eliminate manual touchpoints with secure, automated workflows that are always available, so customers can submit print jobs 24/7. This is backed by advanced predictive maintenance that prevents device downtime and reduces the frequency of onsite visits.

Unlocking the embellishment opportunity: According to Raab, 55% of customers are looking for print embellishments such as metallic spot colour, fluorescent, and clear overlays. Offering embellishment design and print services is a major revenue-generating opportunity, and Xerox is investing in helping partners and customers understand how to market and sell it. Its Genesis Initiative provides training for sales partners and end users on how to design, market, price, and sell the benefits of embellishment print.

Supporting this is a new generative AI design tool developed in partnership with Adobe and scheduled for release in Q3 or Q4 2026. Users can instruct design tools in natural language to create images and add embellishment options. A 3-D on-screen proof tool overcomes the challenges of visualising embellishment in two dimensions, and Adobe expertise ensures files are correctly prepared for printing.

Talking to Quocirca, Jacques-Edouard Gueden acknowledged the need to support partners and customers to unlock embellishment print revenues: “We designed the feature and talked to experts who were all keen, but we realised we were missing the final part of the puzzle – how do you show this to clients to make them say: ‘this is what we want’?”

Jacques-Edouard would not be drawn on the details of the upcoming partnerships, beyond saying that the company has a “busy dance card” for the next two years. The company expects to deliver a “rolling thunder” of announcements and new offerings in coming months to sustain the momentum it has initiated with this launch.

Quocirca Opinion

By its own admission, Xerox has been quiet on the production print topic for some time. Jacques-Edouard Gueden acknowledged that this vacuum created unwelcome rumours in the industry around a possible sector exit. However, this event put paid to those rumours in strong terms.

Confidently presented, everyone was firmly on-message, from top executives to product demonstrator experts and even Aston Martin F1’s Fernando Alonso, whose video cameo was belied as (authorised) AI only because of his unexpected fluency in the Xerox mission.

Xerox has created a comprehensive strategy it believes will drive business for customers and unlock new revenue opportunities while helping address prevailing challenges in the market. Its open approach to growing its partnership ecosystem, and confidence in the added value it can deliver beyond hardware, allows it to lean on the power of the Xerox brand while entering new segments and providing differentiation for partners and customers.

The company may have been reticent until recently, but it is clear that a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to present a complete and coherent strategy. Partners were receptive and energised – CMO Darren Cassidy reported that device sales had already been made during the event – indicating that partners are primed to move forward.

The video cameo from Fernando Alonso may have owed a lot to AI, but Xerox showed genuine determination to put its proposition in pole position. That said, production print is a growing sector and a bright spot in an otherwise flat to declining print environment, and Xerox is not the only business with an established presence in the market hoping to capitalise. We expect competition to increase in the coming year.