TOSHIBA TEC-RICOH JOINT VENTURE

TOSHIBA TEC-RICOH JOINT VENTURE

A strategic collaboration to deliver superior manufacturing

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the Toshiba Tec-Ricoh joint venture?

Through a strategic partnership, Toshiba Tec (Toshiba) and Ricoh will jointly develop and produce multifunction printers (MFPs) that combine the best manufacturing capabilities from both companies. This joint venture, ETRIA Co., Ltd (“ETRIA”), will start operating in July 2024 and will offer innovative and competitive print products to the market.

With industry-leading combined product volumes, both companies will gain manufacturing efficiencies and economies of scale while competitive price, supply chain and geopolitical pressures. We recognize this announcement has been very well received in the market.

 

What is the role of the joint venture?

The joint venture, ETRIA, will develop and produce MFPs, accessories and toners, for both Toshiba Tec and Ricoh. It combines the manufacturing and development capabilities of both companies globally, ensuring high-quality products and a robust supply chain.

ETRIA will drive the backend development and manufacturing initiatives, while leaving the client-facing sales, support, solutions, and services differentiation to each individual company.

 

Will this change how Toshiba Tec and Ricoh compete?

Toshiba and Ricoh will remain powerful competitors in the market and differentiate themselves through numerous value-added features, software solutions and services built around the best-of-breed manufacturing joint venture products. Both companies will also maintain their own sales, training, support, marketing and service organizations, which will enable them to further distinguish themselves and compete to win. Toshiba is known for being the best sales and support company to work with and will continue to earn that reputation in its client, dealer and partner ecosystem.

This joint venture is not a merger, nor an acquisition. It is exclusive to the backend R&D and manufacturing capabilities of both companies and is a very common strategy used by hardware vendors across industries to maximize utilization of their manufacturing lines for common components.

 

When will the joint venture commence?

Development and manufacturing under the ETRIA joint venture will commence in July 2024 and will maintain the manufacturing of both companies’ current product lines until newly developed products from ETRIA will be released.

 

How will this impact dealers, partners and clients?

This is a significant advantage for dealers, partners and clients who will now gain access to core MFP hardware components created from the collective strengths of two industry-leading manufactures further backed by greater supply chain diversity and scale advantages. The products coming from the joint venture will only seek to elevate the quality, consistency, security and reliability expected from print hardware today.

Beyond the core engine components coming from ETRIA, the Toshiba Tec and Ricoh products will remain highly distinctive with different aesthetics, user interfaces and controller technologies from each company. Furthermore, where the end-user value is most noticeable in terms of sales, support, solutions and services, both companies will remain highly differentiated in the market. Toshiba Tec will provide its own robust cloud platform, software portfolio, managed print services, and best-in-class support to clients. Toshiba will continue to provide the best client experience irrespective of which entity manufactures the backend hardware components.

Toshiba Tec-Ricoh Joint Venture

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