Wikipédia ((hot)) - Xerox

Xerox had invented the digital future and then failed to own it. It is the ultimate case study in – a market leader so wedded to its existing customers and profit model that it cannot see (or act on) the disruptive technology it has created.

The story began in in a makeshift lab in Astoria, Queens. Chester Carlson , a patent attorney frustrated by the tedious task of hand-copying legal documents, produced the first "xerographic" image. He called the process electrophotography , which used static electricity and light to create dry copies.

However, in a moment of visionary genius (or institutional irony), Xerox created one of history’s most influential research centers. In 1970, they established the in California. PARC’s mission was to explore the "architecture of information."

The revolution arrived in 1959 with the . It was the first fully automatic plain-paper copier. You could place any document on a glass plate, press a button, and receive a clean, dry copy on ordinary, untreated paper. It was a miracle of industrial design and chemistry. The 914 was enormous, weighed 650 pounds, and had a notorious tendency to catch fire (requiring an included "scorch eliminator" – a fire extinguisher). Yet it was an instant phenomenon. Haloid, having renamed itself Xerox Corporation in 1961, created an entirely new industry. The verb "to xerox" entered the global lexicon, a testament to its dominance. xerox wikipédia

Under CEO (1982-1990), Xerox launched a legendary turnaround. He introduced Leadership Through Quality – a company-wide total quality management (TQM) program. He also pioneered benchmarking – systematically comparing your products and processes against the best in the world (which was now Canon). This led to a massive reduction in defects, product redesign, and a new emphasis on manufacturing efficiency. The turnaround was so successful that it became a Harvard Business School case study. In 1989, Xerox won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award , the first company to do so in the manufacturing category.

But it never happened. Carl Icahn and fellow shareholder Darwin Deason fought the deal ferociously, arguing it massively undervalued Xerox. After a bitter proxy war, the deal collapsed in 2018. The feud culminated in a surprising twist: Instead of being bought by Fuji, Xerox . In 2019, Xerox bought out Fujifilm’s 75% stake in Fuji Xerox for $2.3 billion, renaming it "Xerox Business Solutions" and gaining full control. The relationship that began in 1962 was over, and it ended badly, with Fujifilm suing Xerox (and later settling).

Haloid spent years refining Carlson’s invention. The key challenge was finding a better light-sensitive material; the solution was , which could hold an electrostatic charge and dissipate it when exposed to light. To brand this new process, Haloid coined the term "xerography" – from the Greek words xeros (dry) and graphein (writing). In 1949, they launched the first crude xerographic copier, Model A , but it was manual and messy. Xerox had invented the digital future and then

The product was so dominant that "Xerox" became a common verb for photocopying, a status the company has fought for decades to protect legally. Chester Carlson Xerography History - Xerox

Xerox is the quintessential tale of . It is a parable of how success can breed myopia. The company invented the PC, the GUI, Ethernet, and the laser printer – the building blocks of the 21st-century office – and gave them away for free because they didn’t fit its existing business model of selling copies per page. It is a permanent case study in business schools about the "innovator’s dilemma": The very management practices that make a company dominant in its market make it nearly incapable of responding to disruptive change.

En 1959, après des années de développement avec l'institut Battelle, l'entreprise lance le , le premier photocopieur automatique sur papier ordinaire. Le succès est tel que la société change officiellement son nom pour Xerox Corporation en 1961. Xerox PARC : Le berceau de l'informatique moderne Chester Carlson , a patent attorney frustrated by

The final act of the old Xerox came in . After years of pressure from activist investors (notably Carl Icahn), Xerox entered into a $6.1 billion deal to be acquired by Fujifilm Holdings . The plan was to merge Xerox into their existing long-standing joint venture, Fuji Xerox, and cut costs. The new entity would be called "Fuji Xerox," and Xerox as an independent American icon would effectively end.

The most significant transformation was the for $6.4 billion. Overnight, Xerox became a giant in business process outsourcing (BPO) – managing payroll, healthcare claims, HR, and IT systems for corporations and governments. This was a radical departure from copiers. By 2016, services accounted for over 50% of Xerox’s revenue.