Konica Minolta recently held a virtual press conference to discuss their financial results for the second quarter of their fiscal year and to provide updates on their business, operations, product roadmap, dealer channel, DX customer experience and company culture. Konica executives Sam Errigo, Michael Mathé, Dino Pagliarello, Laura Blackmer, Velinda Cox and Kay Fernandez presented the updates to the press and analysts gathered virtually.
One of the main highlights of the press conference was the company’s strong financial performance in the second quarter. Konica Minolta reported a net sales increase of 31.4% year-over-year, Even with a weakened yen, this translates to a 4.8% increase in US dollar value. The company attributed this to its efforts in securing parts and materials, increasing production and supply of products, and improving logistics and transportation, which enabled it to clear the backlog of orders from previous periods.
In addition to their financial results, Konica Minolta discussed their medium-term plan for their ESG efforts. The company outlined a number of initiatives, including a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon minus status by 2030 instead of the previously forecast 2050.
In its operations segment, Konica Minolta also announced a new two-region direct sales structure that is more closely aligned with customer buying patterns and reflects their go-to-market strategy and commitment to digital transformation and customer segmentation. The new structure will focus on creating a more seamless and personalized customer experience, and will enable the company to better meet the changing needs of their customers, while staying consistent with the All Covered and Professional Services divisions.
KM then shared their office product roadmap for the coming months. The company plans to continue to focus on the development of innovative products and services, including software and hardware updates in several models that include new security functionality, cloud solution compatibility with SSO, updates to the Konica Minolta marketplace, and more.
Other new products on the roadmap include upgraded monochrome iSeries models and new color desktop printers. Production print will also see some new launches, including new AccurioPress replacements in the third quarter of next year, and label and wide-format will also see several launches.
A dealer performance update showed some major upticks in total revenue (up 71%), managed IT services (up 82%) and tech assurance (up 129%) from April-September of this year over last year. Konica Minolta offers an MSP partner program for dealers with no or minimal managed IT business, as well as IT powered solutions for dealers with existing managed IT businesses. Those solutions include security, cloud services, unified communications, and more.
A manufacturing update showed great improvements on the company’s backorders situation, including toners. While a handful of products are still in a backordered situation, many more are either on allocation, distributing decent quantities, or filling all orders.
A discussion of digital sales transformation and eCommerce showed KM’s commitment to the DX customer experience. Customers can now set appointments, chat or call for sales needs, or buy from a limited online portfolio.
Finally, a discussion on company culture demonstrated Konica’s vision for the future and commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Overall, Konica Minolta’s meeting provided a detailed update on the company’s past performance and its plans for the future. The company’s strong focus on digital transformation, innovation, and sustainability positions them well for continued success in the coming years.
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