Konica Minolta's R&D push to grow in Asia

KONICA Minolta has seen more aggressive companies such as Samsung enter its market and posing a serious threat. As a result, the printer manufacturer is keen to go beyond its traditional approach, and take the fight to individual countries in Asia, said a senior executive.

Jun Haraguchi, senior executive officer at Konica Minolta, told BizIT that the business of office printers no longer belongs to just the Old Guard anymore. He is responsible for the company's global business technologies division, which covers its office products. He reports directly to the CEO and spent the early-2000s as president and CEO of Konica's US business.

The printer market has been long dominated by Japanese companies, including Fuji Xerox and Canon.