Business diversification: Canon buys Toshiba medical unit for $ 5.9 billion

[JohanCruyff]

Considering the ageing population of the people living in the developed countries, it could be a good deal.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/03/17/business/corporate-business/canon-agrees-buy-toshiba-medical-unit/#.Vuwo2aNd43x

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I've been looking at Canon patents frome tme to time, and see lots of Medical patents. They do have a significant business now selling Optics related medical equipment, and this is going to be a huge boost for them.

Canon will now be selling big ticket items to industry where Customer service and support can be more of a factor than initial cost. Canon is a highly respected company, which lets them go toe to toe with GE, Phillips, Siemens, etc. This adds MRI, X-Ray, and Ultrasound equipment which fit in with the Canon imaging business.

This may also point to Canon tightening their belt in the photography business and even outsourcing some of the very expensive things like sensors. The cost to develop a sensor is very high, so investment of those huge amounts may now be spent elsewhere. I'm only speculating, time will tell as we see more new models.

 

[Loswr]

Meanwhile, Toshiba is in hot water over accounting practices, and apparently sold the medical imaging unit to Canon via transfer to a shell company first, which though unusual is probably not illegal, but is concerning in light of the other investigations.