The Toshiba Tec-Ricoh Joint Venture
You might have heard the buzz: Toshiba Tec and Ricoh have teamed up to create a joint venture aimed at developing and producing top-notch multifunction printers (MFPs). This move is a big deal and has caught the attention of the industry because it promises benefits for dealers, partners, and clients. Let’s dive into some common questions about this exciting partnership and what it means
What is the Toshiba Tec-Ricoh Joint Venture?
The joint venture is called ETRIA Co., Ltd (“ETRIA”), a collaboration which will develop and produce core MFP hardware, accessories, and toner. ETRIA is kicking off operations this month and aims to bring innovative and competitive print products to the market. Initially, it will manage the manufacturing of both companies’ current product lines. By 2026, it plans to roll out new, cutting-edge MFPs, leveraging the best practices from both companies.
Why partner like this?
Teaming up makes perfect financial and strategic sense. By combining purchasing and manufacturing volumes, Toshiba Tec and Ricoh can reap numerous benefits. Think of it this way: Running a manufacturing line involves significant overhead, but increasing the product volume through that line boosts efficiency and reduces waste. This partnership also enhances purchasing power, supply chain diversity, and operating efficiency. All these factors help both companies become more resilient against price pressures, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical uncertainties. It’s a win-win strategy, similar to approaches taken by other hardware manufacturers across various industries.
How will Toshiba Tec and Ricoh compete moving forward?
It’s important to note that this is not a merger or an acquisition. Toshiba Tec and Ricoh will continue to operate as independent and competitive entities, each with its own brand, products, solutions, and services. They will only collaborate on backend hardware components through ETRIA, which is a separate company. This allows both Toshiba and Ricoh to maintain their unique features and benefits on the front end.
How will this impact dealers, partners, and clients?
This joint venture is a significant advantage for dealers, partners, and clients, who will now have access to MFPs combining the best manufacturing capabilities of both Toshiba Tec and Ricoh. These MFPs will offer high quality, reliability, and performance, while also being cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
Rest assured, the unique value proposition of the Toshiba brand remains intact. Toshiba Tec will continue to provide its robust cloud platform, software portfolio, managed print services, and top-notch support to clients. You will still enjoy Toshiba’s distinctive aesthetics, user interfaces, and controller technologies that set its products apart from the competition. The exceptional Toshiba experience you know and love isn’t going anywhere.
We are confident that the Toshiba Tec-Ricoh joint venture will bring more value, quality, and satisfaction. We look forward to continuing to deliver the best dealer and client experience in the marketplace.
