Lexmark transforms business printing landscape with faster, more powerful, higher-value solutions; New devices designed to deliver faster speeds and more capabilities for less.

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

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LEXINGTON, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 2000

Lexmark International, Inc. (NYSE:LXK) today announced an array of new business printing solutions that are faster, more capable and more affordable than any comparable products offered to date. Lexmark's new Optra monochrome, color and multifunction printers and its new Z52 Color Jetprinter, Business Edition, are designed to improve overall business performance and profitability for customers around the world.

"This introduction is the latest step in Lexmark's strategy to deliver industry-leading business printing solutions to our customers," said Paul Curlander, Lexmark's chairman and CEO. "With these new announcements, we're giving our business customers a stronger reason than ever to choose Lexmark's printing solutions."

Lexmark has strengthened its industry-leading printer families with today's addition of several industry firsts:

-- Optra E312 - first sub-$400 10 page per minute (ppm)

monochrome laser printer with both Universal Serial Bus (USB)

and PostScript emulation standard;

-- Optra M412 - first sub-$800 17 ppm monochrome laser printer

with both USB and PostScript emulation standard;

-- Optra T614 - first sub-$1,100 25 ppm monochrome laser printer;

-- Optra C710 - first sub-$1,900 1,200 x 1,200 dots per inch

(dpi) resolution color laser printer;

-- Lexmark Z52 Color Jetprinter, Business Edition - industry's

first sub-$200 inkjet printer to easily deliver 2,400 x 1,200

dpi resolution in both black and color on all paper types.

"Today's announcements add major achievements to Lexmark's long history of industry firsts," Curlander said. "These accomplishments are the result of our technology capabilities and our singular focus on printing. We believe these solutions will be attractive to a broad spectrum of customers. In the corporate market where demand has been less than expected, this is a powerful new price/value proposition."

Lexmark's new products build on and strengthen its existing Optra and Z-lines of printers. The state-of-the-art printers are designed to provide customers with a total hard-copy solution that is easy to use, enables seamless movement and management of documents across the enterprise and are economical to own and maintain so that business performance and profitability are improved.

Of particular interest to many customers will be the affordability of color printing that's now achieved with Lexmark's new Optra C710 and Lexmark's Z52 Color Jetprinter, Business Edition. Previously, full-featured laser-quality, color printing had been out of reach for many businesses. Now, Lexmark offers two more very compelling color printing options for businesses.

Third-party testing results

Independent, third-party tests conducted by QualityLogic, Inc.(b), one of the nation's leading technology testing labs, indicate that Lexmark's new printers outperform comparable products from other manufacturers by a "wide margin."

Lexmark's new products include:

-- Lexmark Z52 Color Jetprinter, Business Edition -- a robust,

2,400 x 1,200 dpi color inkjet printer for businesses that

prints 15 ppm in black and seven ppm in color and offers a

three-year warranty for $199(a);

-- Optra E312 -- a powerful, compact, 10 ppm personal monochrome

laser printer designed for growing businesses that offers

faster time-to-first-print than the competition at a street

price of $399(a);

-- Optra M412 -- a fast, 17 ppm, small-to-medium size workgroup

monochrome laser printer for a very attractive price of

$799(a);

-- Optra T614nl -- a new, network version of the award-winning,

25 ppm Optra T614, with an estimated street price of $1,519(a),

that delivers up to 40 percent faster performance(b) than

comparable-priced printers;

-- Optra C710 -- industry's first 1,200 x 1,200 dpi color laser

printer available for an estimated street price of $1,899(a)

makes color printing more affordable for enterprises;

-- OptraImage T614s -- a new version of Lexmark's high-performance

multifunction printer, with an estimated street price of

$4,749(a),that enables printing, faxing, scanning and copying

from a single, cost-effective device, allowing customers to do

away with their other stand-alone units.

Lexmark also announced a number of software management tools specifically for its Optra printers that make it easier and faster for enterprises to get new printers up and running. These include:

-- NetPnP v.4.0 -- a tool for Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and

Windows 2000 environments that automatically installs new

devices onto networks, getting printers up and running faster

and eliminating hundreds of installation hours across a large

company;

-- MarkVision for Intranets v.5.6 -- allows administrators to

diagnose and solve printer or multifunction issues via the

Internet. New capabilities allow IT managers to problem-solve

remotely, saving them time and money;

-- MarkVision Windows Installer -- allows IT staffs to deploy

software upgrades across thousands of users with the click of

a button.

Pricing and availability

Lexmark's new products are available immediately from authorized Lexmark partners or resellers or on the Lexmark Web site. The management tools noted in today's announcement are included at no cost with the purchase of any Lexmark business printer. They can also be downloaded from the Lexmark Web site.

Lexmark today also adjusted prices on several of its existing Optra T laser printers by up to 36 percent. The Optra T610 has been reduced from $999 to $899(a), the Optra T614 from $1,729 to $1,099(a) and the Optra T616 from $2,299 to $1,899(a).

About Lexmark

Lexmark International, Inc. is a global developer, manufacturer and supplier of printing solutions and products, including laser, inkjet and dot matrix printers and associated supplies for the office and home markets. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lexmark International Group, Inc. (NYSE: LXK). Lexmark is on the Internet at www.lexmark.com.

Editor's Note 

Lexmark will host an interactive webcast announcing these new products at 8 a.m. EDT today.

-- To "preflight" your computer, please go to

http://np3.netpodium.com/netpodium/preflight.

-- To participate in the event log on to

http://np5.netpodium.com/netpodium/lexmark/.

-- A replay of the event will be available at www.lexmark.com

shortly following the live webcast.

Lexmark, Optra and MarkVision are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc. registered in the U.S. and/or other countries. Color Jetprinter and OptraImage are trademarks of Lexmark International, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

(a) Street prices are estimates; actual prices may vary.

(b) A copy of the testing conducted by QualityLogic, Inc. can be viewed on Lexmark's Web site at www.lexmark.com

Statements in this release which are not historical facts are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, market acceptance of new products and pricing programs, the impact of competitors' products and pricing, currency fluctuations, the ability to increase printer and associated supplies manufacturing capacity, increased investment to support product development and expand capacity, production and supply difficulties, conflicts between sales channels, intellectual property and other legal claims and expenses, the outcome of pending and future litigation or governmental proceedings, changes in a country's or region's political or economic conditions, and other risks described in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings.