XEROX NOT WORRIED ABOUT RICOH's PURCHASE

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Date: Friday September 5, 2008 03:46:52 pm
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    http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20080831/BUSINESS/808310325/1001
    Xerox not worried about Ricoh’s purchase
    A
    year ago, Xerox Corp. bought office imaging equipment distribution
    giant Global Imaging Systems Inc. In that $1.67 billion move, one of
    the Rochester area’s major employers greatly beefed up its sales and
    distribution network.Last week, one of Xerox’s rivals did nearly the
    same thing. Ricoh Co. of Japan is buying Ikon Office Solutions for
    $1.62 billion in cash.With the purchase of Pennsylvania-based Ikon,
    Ricoh makes major inroads into the U.S. and Canadian office equipment
    markets.

    But Xerox is dismissing the idea that the acquisition
    makes Ricoh a difficult competitive challenge.”We see this move for
    what it is: a defensive play by Ricoh to try to keep pace with the
    industry’s leader — Xerox,” Xerox Office Group President Russell
    Peacock said in an internal message sent to employees last week.Office
    imaging equipment means big bucks to Xerox. For the second quarter of
    2008, the company had revenues of $2.5 billion in its office segment.

    While
    Xerox’s Global Imaging carries some non-Xerox equipment, Ikon likely
    will become a distributor solely of Ricoh equipment, said Andy
    Slawetsky, president of Industry Analysts Inc. in Rochester.In his
    memo, Peacock said the Ricoh-Ikon deal causes more problems for other
    office equipment companies than it does for Xerox. He said it places
    competitors Canon and Konica Minolta “in a difficult position,
    especially considering Ikon delivers 35-40 percent of Canon’s total
    revenue in the U.S.”

    Xerox, which employs 7,600 people in the
    Rochester area, is giving some indications it hopes to capitalize on
    the moment. Some Ikon customers may be uncertain about issues such as
    being able to continue to get service for non-Ricoh machines.”We
    believe this change in the industry structure will be positive for
    Xerox and intend to aggressively leverage the opportunity presented by
    this disruption,” Peacock wrote.”Certainly it’s a good time for Xerox
    to turn up the heat on Ikon and go after their customers with a little
    more zeal,” Slawetsky said. “It gives them something to talk about,
    certainly.”

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