Ricoh on Friday said it will acquire Hoya Corp.’s Pentax brand as a bid to strengthen its position in the still-growing digital SLR camera market.
The Japanese company says it will begin using the Pentax name on its own branded camera products. Terms weren’t disclosed, but AFP pegs it at $124 million.
While the company has long made cameras, and now offers mostly compact digital cameras, Ricoh has in recent years more strongly supported its enterprise copier and multifunction printer businesses. The Pentax deal bolsters its consumer presence and serves as growth for the company.
In a statement, Ricoh acknowledged “intensified” competition but “tremendous potential” for new, better products.
The goal of the acquisition is to establish a firmer presence in the consumer business, which has been a considerable challenge for Ricoh.
Ricoh believes that the borderline between office and home will fade and this will be reflected in a major change in products and services. Ricoh aims to provide more consumer–oriented offerings not only in the field of digital cameras but also video conferencing systems, network appliances, and others, to their customers around the world. The acquisition is the first step in this direction.
Why is the camera market growing? It’s likely due to a cleaving of the market. As smartphones become more technically capable, they are replacing compact digital cameras — but there’s no pocket replacement for a full-on, big-lens model.
Ricoh said it also likes the security camera lens module business that comes with the Pentax acquisition.
Future plans include product line expansion (e.g. more interchangeable-lens cameras to meet growth), better consumer-facing processing software, an entry into the image archiving business and more security-related products.
Former owner Hoya will retain use of the Pentax name for its businesses for digital camera modules, DVD pick-up lenses, endoscopes, synthetic bone, and voice synthesis software.
The deal is expected to close in October.
