In October 2008 Lexmark introduced the first of the C540 series printers and MFPs. A year later (October 2009) the C546 and X546 MFP followed. The X548 MFP was launched in April 2011. Print speeds were OEM rated range at up to 21 pages per minute (ppm) in both color and black-and-white (letter-sized) with duty cycles of 35,000 pages per month for the C540, C543 and X543 MFP. The C544, C546. X544 MFP and X546 MFP all were rated at 25 ppm in both color and black-and-white (letter-sized) with duty cycles of 55,000 pages per month. The X548 MFP was also rated at a print speed of 25 ppm in both color and black-and-white (letter-sized) but with a duty cycle of 85,000 pages per month.
Lenovo offers two printers (the C8300 and C8700) and one MFP (MC8300) based on the same C540 print engine. These models are available in China.
The X546 and X548 ship with high yield return program cartridges. All others in the series ship with standard yield return program cartridges. All toner cartridges require chips for the printers to function correctly.