Ricoh's Ikon acquisition

[Missy Frederick]

I'm looking for insight on how this acquisition might impact Ikon's current relationship with Konica Minolta. Everything I've read is focused on the negative impact that Canon has suffered, but no one has touched on the stability between Ikon and Konica. I'm shopping for a production printer, and the co-branded Ikon/Konica machine is winnning the race. But if Ikon will soon be ill-equipped to service this machine, I don't want to go anywhere near it.

Has anyone looked into this? I'd appreciate any information at all that might help me make an informed decision. Thanks so much.

[Internal_R&D_Analyst]

A major VP at Konica-Danka has told us that Konica will drop Ikon as a distributor. Oce however continues to be in very close relations with Konica and will continue to rebrand each others products including the C6500 as the CS650.

I would think this will become clear if Ikon does or does not come out with their own rebranded KM C6501.

[Damianc]

I'm a Canon rep--I suggest you wait for the imagePRO 1110,1125, 1135. The quality is beyond anything in the digital world. Seeing is believing, and I've got sample output that no one can touch. It's less money than the iR Pro 7110, 125, 135 150, and to be fair, these are far heavier-duty machines built for 5 milion per month. The imagePRO is probably for monthly duty cycles of 1 million or less (no official figures yet), and its sweet spot is probably 500k. Canon has a side-by-side comparison with Nuvera, KM, Ricoh, which I can send anyone who is interested.

[Island]

I would think this will become clear if Ikon does or does not come out with their own rebranded KM C6501.

Isn't this the just-released CPP 660 vs. the CPP 650 which was a C6500?

[Damianc]

The Canon imagePRESS 1110,1125, 1135, are probably designed for monthly volumes of 1 million or less, while the imagePRO 71XX can go to 5 million.

[Internal_R&D_Analyst]

Isn't this the just-released CPP 660 vs. the CPP 650 which was a C6500?

Island, you are right the Ikon CPP 660 is the new KM C6501 which is also the Oce CS665 Pro. Somehow i missed that press release if there was one. I guess we'll have to wait and see if Konica drops Ricoh as a seller, I should call a few contacts to get an update if the story they told is still true.

[sweatyclimber]

Missy, There are many flavors of that machine availible and depending on your area lots of choices for where to buy it. In my small town of 500,000 there are 8 people who sell the machine. If you were to purchase one with the KM lable, you would have the option of moving your service around. As for what I know on the topic, its not in KM or IKON's best interest to simply drop everything, but RICHO has made it clear that they intend to switch everyone to there own gear. I came from another mega dealer that was aquired. Our manufacture chose to "take over" by letting us choose which gear was better and if it wasn't there's, improve it till they win our sales.

My take is if the mentality is: "we bought you and you should now sell our stuff" your likely to have better service from a company who will start from the customer and role the sales cycle back up stream. Also with some of the industry's other uncertanties like GE for leasing and the anticipated changes at IKON, I think you would be happier if you chose a KM branded version.

[bartisimus]

I'm looking for insight on how this acquisition might impact Ikon's current relationship with Konica Minolta. Everything I've read is focused on the negative impact that Canon has suffered, but no one has touched on the stability between Ikon and Konica. I'm shopping for a production printer, and the co-branded Ikon/Konica machine is winnning the race. But if Ikon will soon be ill-equipped to service this machine, I don't want to go anywhere near it.

Has anyone looked into this? I'd appreciate any information at all that might help me make an informed decision. Thanks so much.

I actually found out yesterday that Konica has dropped IKON. Not sure what Konica is going to do for IKON in terms of service but I would imagine that IKON is probably scrambling to get something done similar to what they did with Canon. Canon has agreed to sell IKON parts for the next 3 years, and provide 1 year of limited technical service. Although IKON is telling their customers a different story! There are several options for Konica however, depending on where you are located. If you are in MA or NY, Usherwood Office Technology is now a Konica dealer and will carry the full line including the 6500.

[bartisimus]

I actually found out yesterday that Konica has dropped IKON. Not sure what Konica is going to do for IKON in terms of service but I would imagine that IKON is probably scrambling to get something done similar to what they did with Canon. Canon has agreed to sell IKON parts for the next 3 years, and provide 1 year of limited technical service. Although IKON is telling their customers a different story! There are several options for Konica however, depending on where you are located. If you are in MA or NY, Usherwood Office Technology is now a Konica dealer and will carry the full line including the 6500.

[Missy Frederick]

I wonder how vulnerable an independent distributor would be to losing its Konica line. I could go with an independent distributor rather than IKON, but if Konica has pulled from them, they might be likely to pull from an independent as well, considering Konica has its own distributor too. Maybe I should just try to buy from Danka instead.