News

KYOCERA America’'s Latest Color MFP Outshines the Competition in Third Party Lab Evaluation

TASKalfa 5550ci Color MFP Earns BLI’s ‘Highly Recommended’ and ‘Reliability Certified’ Ratings

FAIRFIELD, N.J. – May 16, 2011 – Kyocera Mita America, Inc., one of the world's leading document solutions companies, today announced that Buyers Laboratory, Inc. (BLI), a leading provider of product intelligence for the imaging industry, awarded the TASKalfa 5550ci color multifunctional product (MFP) with its “Reliability Certified” and “Highly Recommended” ratings for efficiency and reliability.

The TASKalfa 5550ci MFP endured BLI’s rigorous two-month in-house evaluation, during which it was extensively tested for reliability, productivity, image quality, toner yields, paper handling, ease of use, multitasking performance and connectivity performance. The TASKalfa 5550ci MFP achieved BLI’s highest lab test rating, ‘Highly Recommended’; a designation reserved for the best all-around devices to enter the BLI lab.

Kyocera’s TASKalfa 5550ci, the company’s newest color MFP, which launched today, is designed with the vibrant image quality, ultra reliability, superior performance and proven productivity end users have come to expect from Kyocera’s flagship TASKalfa product line. Receiving BLI’s ‘Highly Recommended’ rating is a validation and demonstration of Kyocera’s commitment to excellence and innovation.

“The Kyocera TASKalfa 5550ci proved itself a stand-out performer in our comprehensive test,” said BLI managing editor Daria Hoffman. “It earned high scores across the board, outperforming many competitors in important areas including reliability, productivity, image quality and value.”

BLI noted the TASKalfa 5550ci for its highly reliable, class-leading rated color and monochrome drum yields; excellent value, outstanding overall performance and productivity; and highly automated and intuitive network installation. The TASKalfa 5550ci received BLI’s ‘Excellent’ ratings for the following categories:

Color Print/Copy and Black Print Productivity: One of the most productive models in its speed range, with efficiency and speed that is above average or near the top of the competitive range in most all areas evaluated.

Reliability: The TASKalfa 5550ci proved highly reliable, and rated color and black drum yields, at 600,000 impressions each, more than triple the average of competitive models.

Value: BLI stated that at its attractive price, feature set and outstanding overall performance in testing make the TASKalfa 5550ci an excellent overall value to end users.

Ease of Network Setup: IT professionals will appreciate the device's excellent ease of network setup and very good administrative utilities.

Applications Compatibility: BLI’s applications compatibility testing proved the TASKalfa 5550ci MFP to be fully compatible with commonly used operating platforms and applications such as Windows XP platforms, Adobe PageMaker 7.0, Photoshop 6.0 and Acrobat 8.0.

“Kyocera is a company built on tradition, and we make every effort to ensure our products continue the traditions of high durability, ultra-reliability and low TCO,” said Michael Pietrunti, president and CEO, Kyocera Mita America. “We’re in the business of delivering class-leading document imaging products that help our customers to become more productive. In bestowing its highest rating on our new TASKalfa 5550ci color MFP, BLI offers the independent third party validation that lets our customers know to expect this product to meet or exceed their business goals.”

ABOUT BUYERS LABORATORY
Since 1961, Buyers Lab has been the leading independent office-equipment testing lab and business consumer advocate. In addition to publishing the industry's most comprehensive and accurate test reports on office document imaging devices, each representing months of exhaustive hands-on testing in BLI's US and UK laboratories, the company has been the leading source for extensive databases of specifications and pricing on copiers, printers, fax machines and multifunctional products. The company's databases cover over 13,000 products and have a long-standing reputation for being the industry's most trustworthy and complete source for global competitive intelligence. They are available to BLI subscribers online via the company's bliQ competitive information service. This encyclopedic resource also provides quick and easy access to BLI's First Look Reports, Field Test Reports, Lab Test Reports, Solutions Reports, and BLI-produced articles.

ABOUT KYOCERA MITA AMERICA
Kyocera Mita America, Inc. (www.kyoceramita.com/us), headquartered in Fairfield, N.J., is a leading provider of computer-connectable document imaging and document management systems, including network-ready digital MFPs/printers, laser printers, color MFPs/printers, digital laser facsimiles, and multifunctional and wide format imaging solutions. Kyocera Mita America is a group company of Kyocera Mita Corporation. Kyocera Mita Corporation is a core company of the Kyocera Corporation, the world's leading developer and manufacturer of advanced ceramics and associated products, including telecommunications equipment, semiconductor packages and electronic components. Kyocera Mita America, the first document solutions company with third-party certified sales data, has earned numerous honors for its products’ high performance, reliability and cost efficiency. Kyocera Corporation's consolidated net revenues exceeded $15 billion for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2011.