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Onesource chief executive Evan Johnson says that over the last few years, the relationship between U-Bix and Konica Minolta Japan had strengthened to the point that a merger between U-Bix and Konica Minolta’s copier and printer business in New Zealand made increasing good business sense.
The new Onesource subsidiary – Konica Minolta Business Solutions New Zealand Limited - combines the 350 staff and $95 million turnover of U-Bix Document Solutions with the 150 staff and $30 million revenue of Konica Minolta’s former New Zealand subsidiary, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Ltd. Konica Minolta Holdings of Japan retains a ten percent shareholding in the new merged company.
“From a customer viewpoint, the merger has a number of advantages,” Evan Johnson says. “The new Konica Minolta company creates a larger, stronger and more dynamic supplier of products and services. The keys to success in the document solutions market are in matching high product quality with aggressive price and high levels of local service and support. We are now in a much stronger position to deliver in all three areas. “
He says the joint venture explores a new business model for Konica Minolta Japan, being only the second time worldwide that Konica Minolta has merged the operations of a wholly-owned subsidiary into that of a reseller, in return for an equity interest.
Johnson says the Konica Minolta merger makes particular sense in that it gives Onesource a strong market leadership position in one of
the fastest growing segment of the office technology market: networked multifunction devices, known as MFDs.
He says multifunction devices– which print in both colour and black and white, and also handle copying and faxing, are rapidly displacing both conventional laser printers and conventional copiers in small and large offices.
“The market for conventional copiers and conventional laser printers is now declining as modern business offices begin the technology shift to a single networked device which can handle colour as well as black and white.
“Over the last three months the colour printing and copying market has literally doubled in size. Colour is a big factor in driving replacement of older systems, and is a factor in MFDs starting to eat into the low-end offset printing market and the bureau-based digital colour printing.”
He says that the ability of the latest generation of MFDs to handle very high quality colour printing and copying at a highly affordable price is a major market driver – and a major strength for the new Onesource subsidiary. |