Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Machida, the Japanese OKI Corporation is active in many business areas. What core business do you pursue in the European market?

Naoki Machida: In Europe, we focus entirely on providing high-quality solutions for printers. Our history in this market segment goes back a long way, to the early 1980s, when we developed our first printer. Our focus has always been on solutions for businesses, particularly in the office environment, and not on offerings for the domestic environment of a private user.

Wirtschaftsforum: In the wake of the coronavirus crisis, the use of office spaces, especially large open-plan offices, has significantly declined worldwide. Has this also affected the corporate strategy of the OKI Group?

Naoki Machida: Of course, we have also observed this over the past one and a half years. The global market for printing devices and solutions has been in decline for some time anyway. The disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated this process – however, our corporate strategy has been undergoing significant changes for some time due to numerous systemic changes in the market.

Wirtschaftsforum: What are the consequences of this shift in the corporate strategy of the OKI Group?

Naoki Machida: Like many of our competitors and many other manufacturers in the IT sector, we are moving away from the traditional model, which was primarily influenced by customers from the office segment. Therefore, we have taken steps to become less dependent on traditional business, the sale of printers and printer accessories to companies with large offices, in the future. Instead, we will pursue a less product-based and more application-oriented approach.

Wirtschaftsforum: Which providers – besides business offices – are you targeting?

Naoki Machida: In Europe, we are particularly focusing on retailers as well as the hotel and hospitality industry. Our new printer, the C650, features functions that are specifically designed to solve the particular problems in these industries. There, the requirements for print quality are particularly high, especially for color prints. Think of price tags or advertising banners that also want to convey a special brand feeling. These business customers also use not only standard A4 paper for their printing needs but many different types of paper, for example for printing price labels or small catalogs, depending on which paper type is most attractive for the respective final product – and the printers we have developed are perfectly tailored to these special requirements.

Wirtschaftsforum: How exactly do you assess the specific needs of each customer segment in light of your new corporate strategy?

Naoki Machida: By talking more to the end consumer of our products than we have done before. We listen intensively to the consumer and want to know in which areas they see specific need for improvement in their printer solutions. We then aim to meet these needs as well as possible and consistently align our development strategy to offer a simple and effective end-to-end solution.

Wirtschaftsforum: Does that mean you prefer to directly address the end consumer in the future and not rely on resellers anymore?

Naoki Machida: No, regardless of our direct communication with end consumers, we will continue to work 100% with our distribution partners, whose collective knowledge of the product requirements of the end customers and their understanding of the general market conditions are of great value to us.