Konica Minolta and Fujifilm will cut costs together

It's not about photography, but close: printing. Unfortunately, although both brands are strong and well-known in the world, they have small share of the printing market and very high costs. That's why the Japanese giants will join forces.

Fujifilm and Konica Minolta will jointly develop printers

The companies published identical statements specifying the scope and form of cooperation. Fujifilm and Konica Minolta will establish a Joint Venture operating in the printer market. The majority stake will belong to Fujifilm.

The aim is optimization of supply, toner development and production efficiency multifunction devices. The press release also includes the development of an extensive delivery system and strengthening the business foundations. It is worth knowing that the negotiations have not been completed yet and the companies are discussing further forms of strategic cooperation, including ecological and pro-social initiatives.

For now, there is no talk of introducing a common brand to the market. We can safely assume that the differences between Konica Minolta and Fujifilm devices will be mostly cosmetic in the coming years. Companies write about jointly sourcing raw materials and parts for their devices, so their supply chains will be unified. Together, they will also be able to fight more effectively for presence at distributors and good marketing.

The task will be unique, because The global market for scanning and printing peripherals is shrinking. All this promotion of a paperless office and digital correspondence brings visible results. IDC reports that in the last quarter of 2023, deliveries were 15.5% lower. than in the last quarter of 2022.

Moreover, the Japanese are not in the top five of the ranking. IDC lists the top companies as: HP (33.4%), Epson (22.1%), Canon (21.2%), Brother (9.6%) and Pantum (2.6%). . This means that Fujifilm and Konica Minolta are in the “other” bag, with a total market share of 11.1 percent.