[Kunzite]

I can't find it, but I thought that Ricoh hinted that they were willing to sell the camera business. I'm thinking that was last year, and maybe I just read that into something.

You cannot find it because it didn't happen.

[UncleVanya]

I missed the date of 2021… my mind made it 2022. This does seem a bit dated.

[AfterPentax Mark II]

I can't find it, but I thought that Ricoh hinted that they were willing to sell the camera business. I'm thinking that was last year, and maybe I just read that into something.

@Ramseybuckeye: maybe here? CEO of Ricoh (the mother ship) talks about the future of PENTAX and GR - PentaxForums.com
In this thread the CEO states that the company is thinking about what to do with the camera division. They are willing to work together (joint venture?) but are hesitant about the future of the brand...

[AfterPentax Mark II]

Not possible. Chris of DPReview recently rescued Pentax by plugging a Pentax KF into an USB battery and OVF hood massage.
https://youtu.be/MK0l3kN8zQI

If I look at this video announcement and the look of wonder on the faces of the two DPR's, I feel that DPR makes Pentax with its new KF ridiculous. And the question mark in "Pentax announces new camera?" emphasized that feeling.

[AfterPentax Mark II]

You cannot find it because it didn't happen.

They said so in early 2021...

[jersey]

Until you cannot, which is my [sorta] current quandary. I can use my K-1 (which I love!) but the camera will not turn off. So technically it still works, but not without the frequent hassle of removing the battery to turn off camera. (I won't recount those woes here...see thread from last December if you're interested.) It makes it awfully hard to spend more money to buy new Pentax gear when the viability of the brand is in question. I even couldn't bring myself to buy a used K-1 in the PF Marketplace last week. The time will come for practically everyone when their camera won't work they way they want it to perform. Those "years to come" do come to an end at some point.

When I cannot, then I will think what to do next. Pentax being there or not in future does not affect me now and will not affect me, nor my gear, in future. What can change is that I will need, at some point, to switch brand but so what? I do not collect lenses. I only have what I feel I need now. Currently I have two (2) lenses, switching brands even now will be little pain for me.

Unless someone is lens collector I do not really get why Pentax future should somehow influence my purchase decisions now? And even then with all PK adapters it is not all that big issue.

[c.a.m]

I'm having a hard time understanding the context of the article that's referenced in the OP -- the statement regarding a future date of April 2021 doesn't make sense to me. Seems that the timeline dates back almost two years.

I think Digital Camera World is fishing with stale, rotten clickbait when they ask...Is Ricoh about to leave the camera industry? and "it feels like there is a real possibility that Ricoh might sell or shutter its imaging division." There's no basis for that supposition.

- Craig

[Kunzite]

They said so in early 2021...

They being? If not Ricoh, that's not interesting at all.

[RGlasel]

Lame clickbait. Won't do it.

Approximately 300 words of content, with a third of that being cut and pasted content from other sources. Plus a photoshopped Ricoh corporate logo that probably took 15 minutes to finish

In this thread the CEO states that the company is thinking about what to do with the camera division. They are willing to work together (joint venture?) but are hesitant about the future of the brand...

Some context:

Yoshinori Yamashita took over as CEO of Ricoh Company in 2017 and systematically re-imagined Ricoh as a digital documents corporation. The photocopier business has been in a steady state of decline for over a decade and the new vision was to replace Ricoh's dependence on its core business with products and services that had potential for growth as well as being profitable. This turned out to be a very good move, with COVID giving a fatal wound to the centralized office tower model of industrial society, Ricoh is stronger now than when Yamashita took over. The non-industrial photography business was less than 5% of Ricoh Company when Yamashita took over, it is now no more than 1%.

The background of the current president of Ricoh Imaging, Noboru Akabane, speaks to the future of the Pentax and Ricoh brands. Akabane has a banking background and was president of Ricoh Imaging from 2013 to 2016, essentially managing Pentax after Ricoh purchased it from Hoya. Akabane then moved up to the parent company to be deputy director of the Planning Department, responsible for "institutional reform" of Ricoh Company, implementing Yamashita's vision. In November, 2021, Akabane was reappointed as president of Ricoh Imaging, apparently at his request.

Ricoh Imaging is a vanity division of Ricoh Company, kept for the goodwill attached to the Pentax and Ricoh brands, as long it doesn't cost too much money to support. For the CEO of Ricoh Company to mention the Pentax and GR brands in an investor meeting is quite unusual. When Yamashita

expressed his (or Ricoh's) willingness to make PENTAX and GR continue for future as a valuable business. He said that they "will start searching for a way" to do it, that in doing so they hope they can work with outside partner(s). Later, when asked about accepting outside investment VS selling camera business, he said that they're willing to work with partners if necessary and are willing to invest, OTOH they won't be able to "fulfill responsibilities" (to make the brands continue) if they just sell the brands and therefore they need to think long and hard.

in March of 2021, this was a signal to other players in the photographic equipment industry that Pentax and GR could become part of a larger grouping (either by selling off Ricoh Imaging or Ricoh Imaging acquiring other product lines), but Ricoh Imaging was not subject to the overall corporate strategy.


Eight months later, Akabane is back as president of Ricoh Imaging. Reading between the lines, as long as Ricoh Imaging can sustain itself, new Pentax and GR products will continue to be available for purchase. On the other hand, the parent company is not going to make substantial capital investments in a tiny division with no realistic prospects for growth. The market for cameras and lenses seems to have bottomed out, but Nikon is the only player in this industry that relies on its photographic equipment business for its overall financial health. Who knows what will happen when the buyers of new MILCs decide they don't need to buy any more cameras and lenses? Change will continue to come to this industry and the mass market industrial model won't apply anymore.

[Rondec]

I think it is clear that Ricoh would only sell if the buyer would commit to continuing the Pentax brand long term. I don't know that there is any possible suitor who would be excited to do that or that Pentax has much value at present. Certainly if Ricoh was wanting to sell the Pentax brand, you would think they would be investing a bit more to try to pump it up and make it look more appealing.

It really seems like they are committed to sticking with the brand, but with a "pay as you go" ethic, where each product will pay for itself and they will maximize the profit from each release before they look to launching something new.

[brofkand]

People have been predicting the death of Pentax for decades and it's still here. Granted the independent company is gone but the brand lives on.

[BryantCP]

Until you cannot, which is my [sorta] current quandary. I can use my K-1 (which I love!) but the camera will not turn off. So technically it still works, but not without the frequent hassle of removing the battery to turn off camera. (I won't recount those woes here...see thread from last December if you're interested.) It makes it awfully hard to spend more money to buy new Pentax gear when the viability of the brand is in question. I even couldn't bring myself to buy a used K-1 in the PF Marketplace last week. The time will come for practically everyone when their camera won't work they way they want it to perform. Those "years to come" do come to an end at some point.

Ok, but how is this much or really any different from Nikon & Canon users who do not want to go mirrorless ? When Nikon & Canon eventually stop producing and selling new DSLRs, and providing support services for them the viability of continuing to use DSLRs from Nikon & Canon will also be in question.

[Mistral75]

The page from Digital Camera World (I can't call it a report) is complete clickbait.

Dated 27 October 2022, the original article from the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun ("The Daily Industrial News"), one of the leading daily newspapers in Japan, specialising in business and industrial affairs, is much broader and more balanced. Nowhere are Pentax or Ricoh Imaging mentioned.

I quote:

[It's] time to select businesses'; financial indicators Ricoh focusses on.

Response to the in-house company system

Ricoh, which is shifting from a multifunction printer company to a digital services company against the backdrop of the rapid progress towards a paperless society, introduced an in-house company system in April 2021, with an emphasis on return on invested capital (ROIC). In addition to profitability and investment efficiency based on ROIC, the business portfolio is assessed from two other perspectives: market position and fit with digital services. Shun Kawaguchi, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Corporate Executive Officer, says: "We have come to a point in time where we have to make a selection of businesses."

Ricoh has set a target of achieving a ROIC of over 8% in FY25. It has about 30 businesses, several of which it will move towards selling or withdrawing from. About a year and a half after the introduction of the company system, the head of each entity has been given authority, which has "speeded up the decision-making process" (Kawaguchi). ROIC is only an indicator of efficiency, with return on equity (ROE) being the most important factor. The aim is to achieve [an ROE of] more than 10% in FY25.

In order to achieve ROE, ROIC is managed in a two-tier structure in which it is linked to key measures for each business unit and to key performance indicators (KPIs). This management approach was fully implemented in FY22. Rather than simply chasing numbers, "we identify what is not being done, then pursue efficiency and implement measures to improve results" (Kawaguchi).

Share buy-backs are not intended to improve ROE, but rather to realise an optimum capital structure with a targeted net asset value of approximately 1 trillion yen in FY25 and a shareholder return policy of a total return ratio of 50%. However, the most recent 30 billion yen buyback of shares in May 2022 was made in consideration of exchange rate adjustments due to the ongoing depreciation of the yen.

The group also uses sustainability-oriented methods for financing. The use of Sustainability Linked Loans (SLL), which offer preferential interest rates and other benefits according to the achievement of targets, and loans in which environmental initiatives are assessed and implemented, "puts good pressure" (Kawaguchi).

[JPT]

Does the original article even mention cameras? I just see a very typical CFO interview aimed at reassuring investors that the company is serious about profitability.

Remember that a large part of Ricoh's business is still about committing business documents to paper. It hardly sounds like a good business for the future. I'm sure that when the Ricoh CFO talks about profitability, that kind of issue is looming in his mind much more than a small camera subsidiary.

In any case, if anyone is really worried about Pentax's future, there is something useful and practical you can do about it - give them some business.

The one time I was actually concerned for Pentax was right at the beginning of the pandemic. I wondered how they would keep going if everyone stopped buying cameras. So I bought a DA20-40 and I bought it direct from their store, partly out of a desire to support the company. I had the DA 21mm Ltd, the FA35mm and the DA 40mm Ltd already, so it was questionable whether I needed it. However, it's now my most used lens and I love it. I'm so glad I stopped dithering and just got it.

So I'm not saying buy things you don't need, and I'm not even saying that Pentax is in desperate need of your charity, but making a purchase is a meaningful way to support them and your own photography. It's better than wasting time giving oxygen to this kind of fatalistic commentary.

[ramseybuckeye]

@Ramseybuckeye: maybe here? CEO of Ricoh (the mother ship) talks about the future of PENTAX and GR - PentaxForums.com
In this thread the CEO states that the company is thinking about what to do with the camera division. They are willing to work together (joint venture?) but are hesitant about the future of the brand...

Yes, I'm glad you found that, I remember that being some time after the Olympus sale and thinking that the sale had been good for the OM system, though many had thought it would be "Death to Olympus".