Originally posted by kwb Ricoh Imaging doesn't really fit into the mother ship's business aspirations
Ricoh Company is a company on a new mission, to take advantage of the suddenly accelerating shift away from centralized offices. The traditional camera business has no place in such a company, but in today's market conditions you can't realize a positive return on your investment in the camera business by selling it to someone else. If there were buyers willing to pay full value for a camera manufacturing business, Nikon might be the only current manufacturer to hang onto their camera business and that would only be because cameras (and don't forget the lenses that go with those cameras) are the main part of Nikon's business and no other mainstream camera manufacturer has the same dependency on the camera business.
When the Ricoh CEO is talking about "partners," he is taking about other manufacturers facing the same dilemma, what to do with their traditional camera and lens businesses when there are no suitable buyers. When he talks about still being willing to invest in the traditional camera business, he is talking about acquiring other brands (either cameras or lenses or both) to merge with Pentax and GR, if advantageous opportunities present themselves. He is sending a message that he is willing to listen to proposals, but is also prepared to hang onto his traditional camera business if need be. To single out Pentax and GR brands in this presentation, when they contribute such a minuscule amount to the parent company, is a strong sign that something is going to be done soon with Ricoh Imaging, even if it is to park it in a corner somewhere within Ricoh Company where it can continue its operations on its own terms.