I recently saw Ricoh's third-quarter financial report released in February, and there's an interesting phenomenon. Their "Other Business" segment has actually been supported by strong sales of the GR camera series, with the entire segment growing 13.6% compared to the same period last year.

Honestly, the GR series cameras have really gained popularity in recent years. Whether it's the still-selling GR IIIx or the newly launched GR IV, user upgrade demand is quite strong. Plus, Ricoh's pricing strategy leans toward the high-end, so supply still exceeds demand. This is a huge positive for their camera division.

More importantly, according to this third-quarter financial report, Ricoh's "Other Business" still has a loss of 100 million yen, but compared to a 3.2 billion yen loss in the same period last year, it's a significant reduction. Based on this trend, they are expected to end the losses in this segment by the third quarter of fiscal year 2026. Keep in mind, these losses mainly stem from initial investments in new businesses, but with the sales boost driven by the GR IV, this burden should become lighter and lighter.

However, on the other hand, Ricoh also owns the Pentax camera brand, and the situation isn't as optimistic. The Pentax K-3 III was discontinued shortly after its release, and there haven't been any new developments in the digital SLR camera line for a long time. For longtime Pentax fans, this is indeed a bit awkward. It seems Ricoh's current resource focus is still on the GR line, and short-term, there may be no sign of Pentax making a comeback.