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Printers see red on Kinko’s PDF deal

Jeremy Hobson Jul 30, 2007

TEXT OF STORY

Scott Jagow: The printing industry is upset with Adobe — a new feature in Adobe’s software allows you to send PDF files directly to FedEx Kinkos for printing and delivery. You can imagine how other printers feel about that. Here’s Jeremy Hobson.


Jeremy Hobson: The printing industry raked in more than $87 billion dollars last year. It’s big business, and it’s growing. So deals like the one between FedEx Kinko’s and Adobe are a big deal.

Joe Truncale is president of the National Association for Printing Leadership, which represents more than 3,000 printing companies. He says Adobe’s move puts the industry in a jam.

Joe Truncale: What they’ve essentially done is struck an accord with one customer, which on the surface is certainly their right to do. In doing that, they’ve upset literally tens of thousands of their other customers.

Truncale says having a lock on the PDF market is substantial in the printing business. FedEx Kinko’s wouldn’t comment beyond a brief statement. Company spokesman Randy Scarborough:

Randy Scarborough: We value this alliance and believe it provides a simple printing option for many users of Adobe Reader.

No word yet from Adobe — the company will address the issue Wednesday.

I’m Jeremy Hobson for Marketplace.

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