Market News

On July 26, 2022, Toshiba Tec Corporation a global leader in providing innovative solutions in the fields of retail, printing, and labeling, offering a wide range of products and services that enhance operational efficiency and customer experiences and com, Inc. a popular online platform in Japan that provides price comparison and consumer review services for a wide range of products and services, signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to support Kakaku.com Inc's "Tabelog Order" strategically. Toshiba TEC Corp (Toshiba TEC) a subsidiary of Toshiba Corp carries out the development, manufacturing, and selling of office machinery and electrical machinery. "Tabelog," which is run by Kakaku.com, Inc. is one of the most extensive restaurant search and reservation websites in Japan. It lists approximately 830,000 restaurants and has 87.63 Billion monthly users. Customers will also be able to enjoy a more relaxing dining experience thanks to the in-store mobile ordering service known as "Tabelog Order." The "IT Introduction Subsidy 2022," which aims to promote DX, has selected the service as a project to be subsidized. In order to support DX promotion in the retail, food, and beverage industries and contribute to the growth of a sustainable society, the three businesses will collaborate on their strengths and accumulated expertise.

As on June 6, 2022, Zebra Technologies a global leader in the provision of cutting-edge solutions for enterprise asset intelligence, specializing in RFID, mobile computing, data capture, and barcode printing and scanning, completed the acquisition of Matrox Imaging. Matrox Imaging is the machine vision industry's supplier of vision software, smart cameras, 3D sensors, vision controllers, I/O cards, and frame grabbers. Zebra's machine vision products, software, and services for the on-demand economy, which is constrained by a lack of labor and a limited supply of upstream goods and materials, have been enhanced by the acquisition of Matrox Imaging. Zebra's fixed industrial scanning and machine vision portfolio has recently been launched, and Matrox Imaging's solutions significantly enhance Zebra's growing software, machine learning, and deep learning expertise. Zebra anticipates using both cash on hand and fully committed financing from its credit facility to pay for the US$ 875 Billion purchase price. The deal is expected to close in 2022, subject to customary closing conditions like regulatory approval. Matrox Imaging has a higher profit margin profile than Zebra and annual sales of approximately US$ 100 Billion.

On December 8, 2022, SHEIN, an online retailer of fashion, beauty, and lifestyle products, announced of its adoption of digital thermal transfer printing in order to increase printing efficiencies and reduce the environmental impact of textile manufacturing in the supply chain. Digital thermal transfer printing is increasingly being adopted by SHEIN. The company wants to increase printing efficiency and lessen the environmental impact of textile manufacturing in its supply chain. SHEIN's multi-year strategic plan to replace traditional screen printing with less water-intensive printing methods for a significant portion of its printed products has reached a new milestone. SHEIN has switched over to digital thermal transfer printing for more than half of its directly sourced prints since the initiative's inception in December 2018. SHEIN's small-batch production process makes use of this method, which helps to reduce inventory waste and conserve resources from the beginning. Even though digital printing is more expensive than traditional screen printing, it has many advantages, like saving water and energy. Digital thermal transfer is a method of printing in which dyes are first printed on thermal transfer paper before being incorporated into the fabric to create a pattern. SHEIN's digital thermal transfer printing technology is completely dry, whereas conventional screen printing requires 0.49 tons of water to produce 100 meters of fabric. This results in improved operational efficiency and a smaller water footprint for each garment.

On January 10, 2022, Brother International Co., launched a new RJ-3200 printer series consisting of two high-performance label and receipt printers designed to fit the needs of the modern worker. Brother International Co. is a multinational company that specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of various products, including printers, sewing machines, label printers, scanners, and other computer-related electronics. The company is a subsidiary of Brother Industries Ltd., which is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. The improved range of printers launched by the company has a longer battery life, fast print speeds of up to 5ips (127 mm/sec), and a durable design that can withstand drops of up to 2 meters. These features make the improved range the ideal companion for retail and field service employees who require quick and dependable printing. The RJ-3200 models have applications that can help with everything from shelf labeling, price markdowns, click-and-collect, quotes, estimates, and invoices. They also have applications that can help with price markdowns. The Brother RJ-3230BL label and receipt printer has an IP54 certification, has been drop tested from 2 meters, and has a print resolution of 203 dots per inch. It connects via Bluetooth or USB. The Brother RJ-3250WBL label and receipt printer has Wi-Fi connectivity in addition to the same design and functionality as the Brother RJ-3230BL.