Memjet CEO Lauer Talks Strategy as Debut Approaches for “Disruptive” Inkjet Technology
Bruce V. Bigelow7/20/10Comments (6)Follow @bvbigelow
When I got a chance to sit down with Memjet CEO Len Lauer a few weeks ago, I was full of anticipation—because, for me, Memjet is a study in contradictions.
Memjet, as I reported in March, has been developing a host of radically innovative inkjet printing technologies for a worldwide market that was established decades ago, and has been dominated by global giants like Hewlett-Packard, Canon, and Epson. It has the look and feel of a startup technology company. Yet Memjet was founded in the mid-1990s and has roughly 500 employees around the world, including 50 now working at its corporate headquarters—which is probably within range of a No. 3 iron shot of HP’s San Diego Imaging and Printing Group.
Len Lauer
And then there is Lauer himself, who resigned as one of the highest-ranking executives at Qualcomm, the San Diego wireless giant, to become CEO of a company that’s little-known—if it’s known at all—beyond the inkjet printing industry.
“Qualcomm is a really good company,” Lauer tells me. “I got along fine. I wasn’t looking to leave.” He makes it sound like it was an easy decision, once Memjet’s board agreed to establish the company’s headquarters in Rancho Bernardo, a San Diego suburb that also has Sony Electronics and Northrop Grumman’s unmanned systems business in the neighborhood.
“In my view, it’s a businessman’s dream,” Lauer says. “It’s technology that represents a high-value proposition to the customer. It’s really fast. And it’s less-expensive.” He calls Memjet’s technology “truly disruptive.”
After maintaining a low profile over the past eight months or so, Lauer says Memjet plans to step into the open and increase its visibility later this year. The company gave a preview of what to expect in May, with the debut of the SpeedStar 3000, an ultra-fast label printer produced by … Next Page »
Bruce V. Bigelow is the editor of Xconomy San Diego. You can e-mail him at bbigelow@xconomy.com or call (619) 669-8788
Adam Haigh
7/21/10 9:02 pm
I first heard of Memjet back in January and have been impressed with them ever since. I had the chance to interview their VP of Marketing Ms. Kim Beswick back in March and gain some insight. Here’s a link to my interview:
http://www.castleink.com/_a-memjet-beswick-interview.html
Cherry Xu
7/27/10 11:35 pm
Great article. Do you think you can share interviews with Memjet with our magazine Recycling Times from now on?
dimitrios moustakas
4/2/11 7:04 am
hello.my name is dimitrios moustakas from greece sity thessaloniki.I would like to buy memjet photo printer.Can you tell me please where i find in greece or in europa?best regards
Memjet
4/5/11 12:47 pm
Hello Dimitrios,
We expect to announce our first partners for the photo market in the second half of this year.
Many thanks