The story
Founded by Kiyoshi Ichimura in 1936, in Tokyo.1
1936: The company was founded. Before it relocated to Chūō, Ricoh was established in Minato, Tokyo.
1955: Ricoh made its first diazo copier. Ricopy 101 was a diazo wet copier for desktop blueprint duplication. The model received certification of Mechanical Engineering Heritage #54 by the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (JSME) in 2012.
1960s and 1970s: Ricoh made wristwatches for both the Japanese domestic market and international markets, briefly entering into a partnership with Hamilton Watch Company, for the creation of the Ricoh Hamilton Electric watch.
1980s and 1990s: Ricoh was the primary manufacturer of Pitney-Bowes copiers. They have also manufactured copiers for Toshiba, fax machines for AT&T Corporation and Omnifax, as well as a wide variety of equipment for numerous other companies including duplicators for AB Dick. Ricoh manufactured several electronic components for video game consoles – the Ricoh 2A03 8-bit CPU with built-in PSG sound as well as the Ricoh 2C02 (PPU) used in the Nintendo Entertainment System (2A07 CPU in the PAL NES and the 6538 PPU in PAL famiclones), and the Ricoh 5A22 16-bit CPU and the Ricoh 5C77 and Ricoh 5C78 PPUs used in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It also supplied its RF5C68 and RF5C164 PCM sound chips to Fujitsu and Sega for the FM Towns computer, System 18 and System 32 arcade platforms and Sega CD add-on for the Genesis console.
January 2001: Ricoh acquired Lanier Worldwide.
2003: Ricoh bought naming rights to the CNE Coliseum (now known as Coca-Cola Coliseum) in Toronto.
2004: Ricoh acquired Hitachi Printing Solutions, Ltd creating a new company, Ricoh Printing Systems, Ltd.
2005: Ricoh bought the naming rights to the stadium/entertainment complex, home to Coventry City Football Club, called the Ricoh Arena until 2021.
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September 2005: Ricoh launched its newly-designed logo for the Ricoh brand, designed by Landor Associates. The prior logo designed by PAOS had been introduced in 1986.
November 2006: Ricoh announced the integration of the head office of Ricoh Europe B.V. (REBV) in Amstelveen, Netherlands, with NRG's European headquarters in London. This was completed on April 1, with the former NRG HQ in London becoming the Strategic HQ and the former REBV HQ in Amstelveen becoming the Operational HQ. This mirrors a similar process which took place in the US with Lanier and Ricoh USA. This integration was the first step within each country in Europe.
July 1, 2007: A single country organization was created in Austria, with integration also taking place in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
January 25, 2007: Ricoh announced purchase of IBM Printing Systems Division for $725 million and investment in a 3-year joint venture to form the new Ricoh subsidiary, InfoPrint Solutions Company, with a 51% share.
February 2008: Ricoh partnered with PrinterOn to set up two new HotSpot printers: The SP C410DN-KP color printer and the SP 4100N-KP monochrome printer which allows Wi-Fi enabled users to print documents from any location.
August 27, 2008: Ricoh announced its intentions of acquiring IKON Office Solutions for $1.6 billion; on November 1, Ricoh completed the acquisition.
May 2011: Ricoh announced a cut of 10,000 jobs worldwide up to March 2014 from the 40,000 workers in Japan and 68,900 others overseas. The company would also shift 15,000 workers to areas with more growth potential.
July 2010: a confidentiality agreement involving Ricoh was found to be unenforceable by the High Court of England and Wales, as it breached Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which prohibits agreements which had the object or effect of distorting competition. Judgement was made in favour of Ricoh.
July 1, 2011: Japanese optical glass-maker Hoya Corporation said it would sell its Pentax camera business to Ricoh, in a deal the Nikkei business daily said was worth about 10 billion yen ($124.2 million). On July 29, 2011, Hoya transferred its Pentax imaging systems business to a newly established subsidiary called Pentax Imaging Corporation. On October 1, 2011, Ricoh acquired all shares of Pentax Imaging Corp. and renamed the new subsidiary Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company, Ltd.
October 1, 2011: Ricoh announced the establishment of Pentax Ricoh Imaging Company, LTD. On August 1, 2013, the company name was changed to Ricoh Imaging Company Ltd.
January 8, 2016: Ricoh India stated it partnered with Siemens to offer digital lifecycle management software.
July 19, 2016: Ricoh India admitted to an estimated ₹1,123 crore accounting fraud. CEO and Managing Director Manoj Kumar, and Chairman Tetsuya Takano resigned from Ricoh India as a result.
January 18, 2017: Ricoh Limited announced the acquisition of Avanti Computer Systems, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, a leading provider of Print MIS (Management Information System) targeted for the production print market. In 2025, Ricoh sold Avanti to eProductivity Software.
2019: Ricoh announced a partnership with Cisco Systems.
April 2022: Ricoh announced the acquisition of 80% of the shares in PFU Limited from Fujitsu Limited.
2024: Ricoh was entered into the MSCI KLD 400 Social Index.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ricoh, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6