Latest word on Ricoh: For Ricoh, it's a sink-or-swim moment.
Rumors that Ricoh would shutter the consumer camera business were denied earlier this spring. However, new CEO Yamashita* is signalling a break with the past is imminent. I don't believe Ricoh is well-suited as a company to compete in this consumer product space and would do better to dump the camera business. Further, I think now is a good time to sell it to generate cash for their core business.
I would guess that top suitors to buy the Ricoh/Pentax camera portfolio might include Samsung, Fujitsu, or some of the surveillance camera companies, all of whom might pay a little for the lens patent portfolio. Failing that, I could envision Canon making a low-ball offer to enter the medium format business, fold the lens patents into its portfolio (to keep them out of a competitor's hands), and shut the rest down.
Should Ricoh dump their camera line-up? Which company should try to buy the camera portfolio? Will Ricoh be in the camera business in a couple of years? Share your thoughts below.
* someone really should fix the autocorrect on this forum--I did NOT do that to the man's name! :
Rumors that Ricoh would shutter the consumer camera business were denied earlier this spring. However, new CEO Yamashita* is signalling a break with the past is imminent. I don't believe Ricoh is well-suited as a company to compete in this consumer product space and would do better to dump the camera business. Further, I think now is a good time to sell it to generate cash for their core business.
I would guess that top suitors to buy the Ricoh/Pentax camera portfolio might include Samsung, Fujitsu, or some of the surveillance camera companies, all of whom might pay a little for the lens patent portfolio. Failing that, I could envision Canon making a low-ball offer to enter the medium format business, fold the lens patents into its portfolio (to keep them out of a competitor's hands), and shut the rest down.
Should Ricoh dump their camera line-up? Which company should try to buy the camera portfolio? Will Ricoh be in the camera business in a couple of years? Share your thoughts below.
* someone really should fix the autocorrect on this forum--I did NOT do that to the man's name! :
