Document technology company, xerography, office printers, copiers, managed print services, workflow software, IT solutions, PARC research, Ethernet, graphical interfaces, and enterprise document infrastructure

Xerox

Xerox is a document technology company whose name became closely tied to photocopying. Its influence goes beyond copiers: Xerox helped popularize plain-paper copying, built major office-printing businesses, and supported research that shaped personal computing, networking, and graphical user interfaces.

Founded

The company traces its roots to the Haloid Company in Rochester, New York, in 1906.

Core business

Printers, multifunction devices, managed print services, workflow software, financing, and IT solutions.

FY2025 scale

Xerox reported FY2025 revenue of $7.02 billion, including Print and Other plus IT Solutions segments.

Xerox helped make plain-paper copying ordinary office infrastructure and remains active in print, document, workflow, and IT services.Xerox logo via Wikimedia Commons

What Xerox is

Xerox is best known for copying machines, but the modern company is a workplace technology and document-services business. It sells printers and multifunction devices, supports managed print fleets, provides supplies and maintenance, finances equipment, and offers software and IT services for organizations that still move information through documents.

Xerography

The core invention behind Xerox was xerography, a dry copying process based on electrostatic charges, light exposure, toner, and heat. Before plain-paper copiers, duplicating documents was slower and messier. Xerox made copying ordinary office work fast enough that the company name became a verb.

The office copier era

The Xerox 914, announced in 1959, turned plain-paper copying into a mass office habit. It was not just a machine; it changed how memos, forms, contracts, reports, and reference material circulated. The copier helped offices duplicate information without a print shop, which made paperwork both easier and more abundant.

Managed print services

A large part of Xerox’s business comes after equipment is installed. Managed print services, supplies, maintenance, rentals, financing, and software can matter more than a one-time hardware sale. Customers want printers that work, costs they can track, secure output, and fewer surprises across many locations.

PARC and computing

Xerox PARC became famous for research that influenced the personal computer industry, including graphical user interfaces, Ethernet, laser printing, and object-oriented software ideas. Xerox did not capture all of the commercial value from those breakthroughs, but its research culture left a long shadow over modern computing.

Digital workflow

Documents are now often born digital, signed digitally, stored in cloud systems, and printed only when needed. Xerox’s challenge is to serve that mixed world: paper still matters in law, healthcare, government, education, finance, and logistics, but customers also expect automation, security, search, and integration with software systems.

Recent reinvention

Xerox has been trying to reshape itself as print volumes decline and office work changes. The company has emphasized IT Solutions, security services, channel expansion, cost restructuring, and the integration of Lexmark after the acquisition closed in 2025. The shift is partly defensive and partly a search for new growth.

Why it matters

Xerox matters because it shows how office infrastructure can change behavior. Cheap copying altered how organizations shared information, while Xerox research helped shape the tools people now use to create and move that information digitally. The company sits at the crossroads of paper, software, networks, and work habits.

Key concepts

Xerographya dry copying process that uses electrostatic charge, light, toner, and heat to reproduce an image.
Multifunction printera device that combines printing, scanning, copying, faxing, security, and workflow features.
Managed print servicescontracts that help organizations operate, monitor, secure, and maintain printer fleets.
Post-sale revenuesupplies, service, financing, maintenance, rentals, and software revenue that follows equipment placement.
PARCXerox’s research center associated with major advances in networking, interfaces, printing, and computing ideas.

Important milestones

1906The Haloid Company, Xerox’s predecessor, was formed in Rochester, New York.
1938Chester Carlson made the first xerographic image in Astoria, Queens.
1942Carlson received a U.S. patent for electrophotography, later called xerography.
1948The word Xerox was trademarked for future use.
1959Xerox announced the Xerox 914, a plain-paper copier that transformed office copying.
1970Xerox PARC was founded and became an influential computer research center.
2016Xerox separated from its business-process outsourcing arm, which became Conduent.
2025Xerox completed the Lexmark acquisition and reported FY2025 revenue of $7.02 billion.

Where Xerox shows up

Offices use Xerox printers, copiers, scanners, print servers, supplies, and maintenance contracts.
Large organizations use Xerox managed print services to control cost, security, device fleets, and document workflows.
Print shops and production environments use higher-volume digital printing systems and finishing workflows.
IT teams may encounter Xerox through IT services, endpoint hardware, cloud and security solutions, and workplace software.

Common misconceptions

Xerox is not only a copier maker; its business includes services, software, financing, supplies, and IT solutions.
The word Xerox is a brand name, even though people sometimes use it casually to mean photocopy.
The decline of office print volume does not mean documents disappeared; many workflows now mix paper, scanning, cloud storage, and automation.
Xerox PARC’s influence on computing was large, but many PARC ideas were commercialized more successfully by other companies.