News

Canon announces the end of the Océ brand

10 958 2019

The Océ brand is going to disappear, with no more new products carrying that name after January 1, 2020. A new brand is born: Canon Production Printing. All Océ machines will carry this name from this date, and we expect the rest of the Canon production ranges to follow suit.

Canon acquired Océ in 2010. Océ is based in The Netherlands, and started out in 1877 as a company which manufactured food colouring agents (for example, the yellow in margarine). While they remained a chemicals company until the 1980s, they first delivered print products about 100 years ago and a copier in the 1930s.

Océ have always brought timely technical innovations to the market, often tweaking the electrophotographic process to reduce emissions, noise and power consumption. Since they joined the Canon group, Océ have continued to develop, manufacture and distribute wide-format and production printing machines. They currently manufacture ranges which achieve exactly those aims by pressing toner onto cut sheets, thus reducing the energy required to fuse it (and the noise, and warm-up times). Océ also develop production printing workflow software.

Canon have been wise to let Océ to their own devices, and there is no announcement that this will change now. But the brand name OCE has been consigned to history, albeit in a special place.