Ricoh 1998 Annual Report Download - page 14

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12
Ricoh pioneered and is a global leader in digital copiers.
Digital machines have become integral to customers’ efforts to im-
prove office productivity through networking. Ricoh has drawn on its
digital technologies to build a solid lineup of personal computer-connec-
tive and multifunctional models. These efforts have helped the Company
maintain its top position in the Japanese market as companies build digi-
tally networked offices. We have launched many revolutionary network-
able products overseas, as a result of which we are now No. 1 in the
United States and Europe in core monochrome digital offerings.
F
ISCAL
1998 P
ERFORMANCE
In fiscal 1998, sales of copiers and related supplies jumped 7.6%, to
¥891.0 billion ($6,750 million). These products constituted 63.5% of net
sales, up 0.5 percentage point. Domestic sales slipped 0.6% owing pri-
marily to the nation’s prolonged recession.
The story was different overseas, with sales rising 18.5%. This double-
digit gain reflected the high popularity of new addi-
tions to the Aficio lineup and the expansion of our
sales channels abroad.
New Aficio 200, 400, and 500 series machines
sold particularly well. The Aficio 200 and 250 de-
liver 20 and 25 copies per minute, respectively.
They are favored for their central output trays,
which make them incomparably compact. Just as
important, they offer optional faxing and PC print-
ing modules.
The Aficio 400, which outputs 40 copies per
minute, sold strongly because it delivers nine pow-
erful digital capabilities. For example, it can run
multiple copy jobs straight from its massive memo-
ry after a single scan. It electronically sorts com-
plete sets of documents, eliminating the need for
several sorter bins, and has a 256-level grayscale
photo mode. The Aficio 401, a sister machine,
R EVIEW OF O PERATIONS
Industry surveys have found that Ricoh was the No. 1 seller
of digital copiers in Europe (source: InfoSource) and the
United States (source: Dataquest) in 1997. We captured a
55.8% market share in Europe and another 39.4% in the
United States. These results compared with 27.6% and
48.5%, respectively, for the previous year. Ricoh has led in
Japan since it pioneered digital copiers there in the 1980s.
Pictured is the Gotemba Plant in Shizuoka, the Com-
pany’s main facility for the production of digital copiers.
RICOH TOP GLOBALLY IN
DIGITAL COPIERS
C OPIERS AND R ELATED S UPPLIES
Highlights of the Year
1
O
FFICE
E
QUIPMENT
0
200
400
600
800
1000
19981997199619951994
891.0
828.4
654.5
582.9
544.8
SALES OF COPIERS AND RELATED SUPPLIES
(Billions of Yen)