The Ricoh Company, Ltd. (/ˈrk/) (株式会社リコー, Kabushiki-gaisha Rikō) is a Japanese multinational imaging and electronics company. It was founded by the now-defunct commercial division of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (Riken) known as the Riken Concern, on 6 February 1936 as Riken Sensitized Paper (理研感光紙, Riken Kankōshi). Ricoh's headquarters are located in Ōta, Tokyo.[1]

Ricoh Company, Ltd.
Native name
株式会社リコー
Kabushiki gaisha Rikō
Company typePublic KK
TYO: 7752
IndustryElectronics, Imaging
FoundedFebruary 6, 1936; 88 years ago (1936-02-06)
FounderKiyoshi Ichimura Edit this on Wikidata
HeadquartersNakamagome, Ōta, Tokyo, Japan
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Yoshinori Yamashita [jp] (Chairman)
Akira Oyama (President & CEO)
ProductsCopiers (such as plain paper copiers (PPCs)), printers (multi-functional printers (MFPs), laser printers), production printing products, facsimile machines, digital cameras, and film cameras
BrandsRicoh, Pentax
Revenue¥2.063 trillion (Year ended March 31, 2018)
¥2,008.5 billion (Year ended March 31, 2020)
Number of employees
90,141 (on consolidated basis, as of March 31, 2020)
SubsidiariesPentax
Websitewww.ricoh.com

Ricoh produces electronic products, primarily cameras and office equipment such as printers, photocopiers, fax machines, offers Software as a Service (SaaS) document management applications such as DocumentMall, RicohDocs, GlobalScan, Print&Share,[2] MakeLeaps and also offers Projectors. In the late 1990s through early 2000s, the company grew to become the largest copier manufacturer in the world. During this time, Ricoh acquired Savin, Gestetner, Lanier, Rex-Rotary, Monroe, Nashuatec, IKON and most recently IBM Printing Systems Division / Infoprint Solutions Company. Although the Monroe brand was discontinued, products continue to be marketed worldwide under the remaining brand names. In 2006, Ricoh acquired the European operations of Danka for $210 million. These operations continue as a stand-alone business unit, under the Infotec brand.[3]

History

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  • 1936: The company was founded. Before relocating to Chūō, Ricoh was first in Minato, Tokyo.[4] In 2006 Ricoh's headquarters moved to the 25-story Ricoh Building in the Ginza area in Chūō.
  • 1955: Ricoh made their first diazo copier. Ricopy 101 was a diazo wet copier for desktop blueprint duplication.[5] The model received certification of Mechanical Engineering Heritage #54 by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) in 2012.
  • 1960s and 1970s: Ricoh made wrist watches for both the Japanese domestic market and international markets, briefly entering into a partnership with Hamilton Watch Company, for the creation of the Ricoh Hamilton Electric watch.[6]
  • 1980s and 1990s: Ricoh was the primary manufacturer of Pitney-Bowes copiers. They have also manufactured copiers for Toshiba, fax machines for AT&T Corporation and Omnifax, as well as a wide variety of equipment for numerous other companies including duplicators for AB Dick. Ricoh manufactured several electronic components for video game consoles - the Ricoh 2A03 8-bit CPU with built-in PSG sound as well as the Ricoh 2C02 (PPU) used in the Nintendo Entertainment System (2A07 CPU in the PAL NES and the 6538 PPU in PAL famiclones), and the Ricoh 5A22 16-bit CPU and the Ricoh 5C77 and Ricoh 5C78 PPUs used in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It also supplied their RF5C68 and RF5C164 PCM sound chips to Fujitsu and Sega for the FM Towns computer, System 18 and System 32 arcade platforms and Sega CD add-on for the Genesis console.
  • January 2001: Ricoh acquired Lanier Worldwide.[7]
  • 2003: Ricoh bought naming rights to the CNE Coliseum (now known as Coca-Cola Coliseum) in Toronto.[8]
  • 2004: Ricoh acquired Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd creating a new company, Ricoh Printing Systems, Ltd.[9]
  • 2005: Ricoh bought the naming rights to the stadium/entertainment complex, home to Coventry City Football Club now called the Ricoh Arena.[10]
  • September 2005: Ricoh launched its newly-designed logo for the Ricoh brand. The prior logo had been introduced in 1986.[11]
  • November 2006: Ricoh announced the integration of the head office of Ricoh Europe B.V. (REBV) in Amstelveen, Netherlands, with NRG's European headquarters in London, United Kingdom. This was completed on April 1, with the former NRG HQ in London becoming the Strategic HQ and the former REBV HQ in Amstelveen becoming the Operational HQ. This mirrors a similar process which took place in the US with Lanier and Ricoh USA. This integration was the first step within each country in Europe.
  • July 1, 2007: A single country organization was created in Austria, with integration also taking place in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
  • January 25, 2007: Ricoh announced purchase of IBM Printing Systems Division for $725 million and investment in a 3-year joint venture to form the new Ricoh subsidiary, InfoPrint Solutions Company, with a 51% share.[12]
  • February 2008: Ricoh partnered with PrinterOn to set up two new HotSpot printers: The SP C410DN-KP color printer and the SP 4100N-KP monochrome printer which allows Wi-Fi enabled users to print documents from any location.[13]
  • August 27, 2008: Ricoh announced its intentions of acquiring IKON Office Solutions for $1.6 billion; on November 1, Ricoh completed the acquisition.[14]
  • May 2011: Ricoh announced a cut of 10,000 jobs worldwide up to March 2014 from the 40,000 workers in Japan and 68,900 others overseas. The company would also shift 15,000 workers to areas with more growth potential.[15]
  • July 2010: a confidentiality agreement involving Ricoh was found to be unenforceable by the High Court of England and Wales, as it breached Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits agreements which had the object or effect of distorting competition. Judgement was made in favour of Ricoh.[16]
  • July 1, 2011: Japanese optical glass-maker Hoya Corporation said it would sell its Pentax camera business to Ricoh, in a deal the Nikkei business daily said was worth about 10 billion yen ($124.2 million).[17] On July 29, 2011, Hoya transferred its Pentax imaging systems business to a newly established subsidiary called Pentax Imaging Corporation. On October 1, 2011, Ricoh acquired all shares of Pentax Imaging Corp. and renamed the new subsidiary Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company, Ltd.[18][19]
  • October 1, 2011: Ricoh announced the establishment of Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company, LTD.[18] On August 1, 2013, the company name was changed to Ricoh Imaging Company Ltd.[20]
  • January 8, 2016: Ricoh India stated they partnered with Siemens to offer digital lifecycle management software.[21]
  • July 19, 2016: Ricoh India admitted to an estimated 1,123 crore accounting fraud.[22] CEO and Managing Director Manoj Kumar, and Chairman Tetsuya Takano resigned from Ricoh India as a result.[23]
  • January 18, 2017: Ricoh Limited announced the acquisition[24] of Avanti Computer Systems, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, a leading provider of Print MIS (Management Information System) targeted for the production print market. The acquisition enabled Ricoh to further expand the value its production print workflow delivers to customers, as well as to help improve management efficiency and productivity of customers in the production printing market.
  • 2019: Ricoh announced a partnership with Cisco Systems.[25]
  • April 2022: Ricoh announced the acquisition of 80% of the shares in PFU Limited from Fujitsu Limited.[26]
  • 2024: In November 2023 it was entered into the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index.[27]

Operations

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The Ricoh Group has sales and support, production, and research and development operations in nearly 180 countries. It has its world headquarters in Tokyo, Japan and regional headquarters in Japan, the Americas, Europe, China, and the Asia-Pacific.

Regional headquarters

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  • Americas Regional Headquarters
    Ricoh USA, Inc., located in Exton, PA, USA, covers the United States and Canada while Ricoh Latin America, located in South Florida, covers the Latin American countries
  • Europe Regional Headquarters
    Ricoh International B.V., located in Amstelveen, the Netherlands and London, U.K. covers Europe, Africa and Middle East
  • Asia/Pacific Regional Headquarters
    Ricoh Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., located in Singapore, covers South-East Asia, Australia, New Zealand and China

Research groups

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Ricoh has 272 subsidiaries (72 national and 200 overseas) which specialize in technology- and customer-research groups around the world.[28] For example, Ricoh Innovations, a research subsidiary of Ricoh Company, operates in Silicon Valley, California, focusing on technology, cloud, mobile solutions, and customer research.[29]

Products

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Ricoh Theta V and SC 360-degree omnidirectional camera
 
Caplio R6
 
Caplio GX100
 
Ricoh SD/MMC card reader controller found in a Sony Vaio FW series laptop

A partial list of products marketed to the public under the Ricoh brand includes:

  • Digital cameras
    • Compact
      • Ricoh RDC-1 (1995, 0.41 mexapixel)
      • Ricoh RDC-2 (1996, 0.41 megapixel)
      • Ricoh Theta (360-degree compact - 14.5 megapixel)
      • Ricoh Caplio G3 (3.24-megapixel)
      • Ricoh Caplio G4 (3.24-megapixel)
      • Ricoh RDC-5300 (2.30-megapixel)
      • Ricoh Caplio Pro G3 GPS Camera, Network ready (3.24-megapixel)
      • Ricoh Caplio RX (3-megapixel)
      • Ricoh Caplio R1 (4-megapixel, also available as Rollei DR4)
      • Ricoh Caplio R1v (5-megapixel, also available as Rollei DR5)
      • Ricoh Caplio R2 (5-megapixel, larger screen, no viewfinder)
      • Ricoh Caplio R3 (5-megapixel, 28–200 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh Caplio R4 (6-megapixel, 28–200 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh Caplio R5 (7-megapixel, 28–200 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh Caplio R6 (7-megapixel, 28–200 equivalent zoom, larger screen, super slim)
      • Ricoh Caplio R7 (8-megapixel, 28–200 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh R8 (10-megapixel, 28–200 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh R10 (10-megapixel, 28-200 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh CX1 (9-megapixel, 28-200 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh CX2 (9-megapixel, 28-300 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh CX3 (10-megapixel, 28-300 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh CX4 (10-megapixel, 28-300 equivalent zoom)
      • Ricoh Caplio GX (5.1-megapixel, also available as Rollei DR5100)
      • Ricoh Caplio GX8 (8-megapixel) 28-85mm equivalent zoom with 22 mm optional adaptor
      • Ricoh Caplio GX100 (10-megapixel) 24-72mm equivalent wide zoom with 19 mm optional adaptor
      • Ricoh GX200 (12-megapixel) 24-72mm equivalent wide zoom with 19mm and 135mm optional converter lenses. Replaced the GX100.
      • Ricoh Caplio 400G Wide (3.2-megapixel)
      • Ricoh Caplio 500SE (8-megapixel, 28-85mm equivalent zoom with 22 mm optional adaptor, GPS-ready)
      • Ricoh WG-M1
      • Ricoh G700
      • Ricoh WG-4
      • Ricoh WG-20
      • Ricoh WG-30
      • Ricoh WG-30W
    • GR Digital
      • Ricoh GR Digital (8-megapixel) 28 mm equivalent prime lens with 21 mm optional adaptor
      • Ricoh GR Digital II (10-megapixel) 28 mm equivalent prime lens with 21 mm optional adaptor
      • Ricoh GR Digital III (10-megapixel) 28 mm equivalent prime lens with f/1.9 aperture
      • Ricoh GR Digital IV (10-megapixel) 28 mm equivalent prime lens with f/1.9 aperture
      • Ricoh GR (16-megapixel) 28 mm equivalent prime lens with f/2.8 aperture
    • GXR interchangeable sensor system
  • GPS and camera All-in-one[30]
  • Film cameras
     
    Ricoh 35 EFS
     
    Ricoh KR-10x SLR camera
 
Golden Ricoh 16mm camera
 
Ricoh RZ-800
    • Ricoh KR-5 (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh KR-5 Super (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh KR-5 Super II (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh KR-10 (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh KR-10 Super (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh KR-30SP (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh GR film cameras (GR1, GR1s and GR1V, GR10, GR21)
    • Ricoh XR-1 (Pentax K mount)
    • Ricoh XR-2 (Pentax K mount)
    • Ricoh XR-2s (Pentax K mount)
    • Ricoh XR7 (Pentax K mount)
    • Ricoh XR-500 (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh XR-10M (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh XR-M (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh XR-P (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh XR-S (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh XR-X (R-K mount)
    • Ricoh FF-9D
    • Ricoh RZ-800
  • Multifunction Products/Printers
    • Ricoh Aficio (Ricoh has used Aficio as a global brand since 1996.[31])
      • Ricoh Aficio MP C 2500
    • Ricoh Pro
  • DocumentMall (SaaS document-management)
    • Software as a Service (SaaS) Defined
    • Secure Storage—HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Compliant
    • Document Management
    • Industry Solutions
    • Accounts Payable Solution
  • Software Solutions
    • Print&Share (output management and security)
    • Streamline NX (Print Management and document-capture)
    • GlobalScan (document-capture and distribution software)
  • Projectors
    • Mobile
      • PJ X2130
      • PJ WX2130
    • Desk-Edge and Short Throw
      • PJ X3340
      • PJ WX3340
      • PJ WX3340N
      • PJ X4240N
      • PJ WX4240N
      • PJ X3241
    • Ultra-short-throw Projectors
      • PJ WX4141
      • PJ WX4141N
      • PJ WX4141NI
    • Standard Installation
      • PJ WX5361N
      • PJ X537N
    • Conference Room
      • PJ WX6170N
      • PJ X6180N
  • Unified Communication Systems
    • P1000
    • P3000
    • P3500
    • Ricoh UCS App for tablet and smartphones
  • Interactive WhiteBoard
    • Ricoh InteractiveWhiteboard D5500
  • Ricoh Data Center Services

Sponsorships

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Ricoh Arena, Coventry, England

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Company Data Archived 2009-02-05 at the Wayback Machine." Ricoh. Retrieved on January 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "Free-up more time for essential business tasks with Print&Share from Ricoh". Ricoh. November 14, 2011.
  3. ^ "Company History". Ricoh. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  4. ^ Ricoh Discount Copier Center. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  5. ^ "Ricopy 101: Forerunner of Office..." www.ricoh.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  6. ^ "Hamilton Ricoh - Electric Watches." Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  7. ^ "Ricoh acquires Lanier Worldwide". January 26, 2001. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  8. ^ Catherine Phillips (July 13, 2008). "Coca-Cola takes over naming rights from the Ricoh Coliseum". Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  9. ^ "Ricoh and Hitachi signed Agreement on Ricoh's acquisition of Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd". Hitachi. August 9, 2004. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  10. ^ "Coventry City Ricoh Arena ownership deal 'agreed'". BBC News. September 21, 2012. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  11. ^ "Transition of the Ricoh logo". Ricoh. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  12. ^ "Ricoh to acquire IBM printing systems unit over three years". Mercury News. Associated Press. January 25, 2007. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  13. ^ "About RICOH HotSpot MFP/Printer Cloud Printing Software". Ricoh. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  14. ^ "Ricoh to Acquire IKON Office Solutions, Inc". Reuters. August 27, 2008. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  15. ^ "Ricoh to Eliminate 10,000 jobs". The New York Times. Reuters. May 25, 2011. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  16. ^ Gerschlick, P., UK: Too Wide a Restriction on Contractual Non-Compete Clause Between Non-Competitors Breached EU Competition Law – Jones v Ricoh, High Court, Mondaq, published 27 July 2010, accessed 5 October 2023
  17. ^ "UPDATE 2-Japan's Hoya: to sell Pentax camera business to Ricoh". Reuters. June 30, 2011. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  18. ^ a b "Ricoh Establishes PENTAX RICOH I..." Ricoh Global. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  19. ^ "Ricoh to acquire HOYA's PENTAX I..." Ricoh Global. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  20. ^ "COMPANY NAME CHANGE". Ricoh. July 2, 2013. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  21. ^ "Ricoh India ties up with Siemens to offer digital lifecycle management software". Economic Times. January 8, 2016. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  22. ^ Choudhary, Shrimi (July 19, 2016). "Ricoh India admits accounting violations, falsification of books". Business Standard. Mumbai. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  23. ^ Jain, Upsana (July 25, 2016). "Ricoh India chairman Tetsuya Takano resigns". Livemint. New Delhi. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  24. ^ "Ricoh Acquires Avanti Computer Systems Limited". www.prnewswire.com. January 18, 2017. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  25. ^ "Ricoh and Cisco enter a strategic partnership to empower digital workplaces". Ricoh. February 26, 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  26. ^ "Ricoh acquires 80% of PFU Limited". The Recycler. 2022-04-28. Retrieved 2022-04-28.
  27. ^ https://www.ricoh-europe.com/news-events/news/ricoh-receives-highest-msci-esg-rating-of-aaa-for-the-first-time/ [bare URL]
  28. ^ "Ricoh 2010 Annual Report" (PDF). Arizona State Procurement Office. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  29. ^ "Ricoh Expands New Business Creation in Silicon Valley". Ricoh News Release. Tokyo. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Ricoh 500SE GPS-ready". DP Review. February 5, 2007. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  31. ^ "Company History". Ricoh Company, Limited. Retrieved 2019-06-18. Jul. 1996[:] Ricoh inaugurates Aficio as unified global brand for Ricoh products.
  32. ^ Glen Collins (November 15, 2008). "In Times Square, a Company's Name in (Wind- and Solar-Powered) Lights". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
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