Every year, the workplace multifunction device and printer industry experiences various developments—partnerships, acquisitions, groundbreaking technological innovations, and more. However, in 2025, the industry was confronted with an unprecedented event: the U.S. tariff policy announced by President Trump on April 2. OEMs scrambled to implement countermeasures to minimize the impact of these tariffs on their U.S. business.
Although the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the United States differed by country, all were set at high levels. OEMs responded by urgently shifting production of MFPs and printers destined for the United States away from China—where tariff rates were particularly high—to Southeast Asia. Ideally, companies would simply add the cost of the tariffs directly to their selling prices; however, sharp price increases on hardware and supplies risk suppressing customer demand. As a result, OEMs also implemented pricing strategies that restrained full price pass-through, absorbing part of the tariff impact through lower operating margins.
Due to these efforts, the negative impact on OEMs’ financial results for FY2025 (ending September 2025) turned out smaller than originally expected. Nevertheless, tariffs will remain a continuing drag on profitability. OEMs are therefore expected to further increase price pass-through in the U.S. market while observing customer reactions carefully.
Summary of how U.S. tariffs policy affected each OEM’s FY2025 results:
Ricoh
The impact of U.S. tariffs was ¥0.8 billion in Q1 (April–June) and ¥3.6 billion in Q2 (July–September), reducing first-half operating profit by ¥4.4 billion. While tariff-related costs increased ¥5.7 billion, Ricoh absorbed ¥3.0 billion through price increases and other measures. However, lower sales volumes also contributed, resulting in a net impact of ¥4.4 billion.
For the full year, Ricoh expects a total impact of ¥15 billion:
- Digital services (office services + office printing): ¥7.5 billion
- Graphic communications (cut-sheet PP, continuous-feed PP): ¥6.0 billion. Graphic communications saw demand decline as customers postponed capital investment under the tariff environment.
- The remaining ¥1.5 billion impact spreads across other segments including Ricoh industrial solutions (thermal paper, etc.).
Manufacturing countermeasures: Ricoh transferred production of some China-made devices to Thailand and Malaysia, where volume production has already begun. In October, the U.S. announced an additional reduction in the tariff rate on exports from China to 20%, but Ricoh had already significantly reduced its exposure to China-origin products for the U.S. market.
Canon
Canon’s Q3 (July–September) operating profit fell 10.3% YoY to ¥88 billion due to a ¥7.9 billion negative impact from U.S. tariffs.
Printing business: In Q3, printing saw demand postponement not only in the U.S. but also in Europe and Asia, particularly for laser printers. As a result, printing revenue declined 1.1%, and operating profit fell 14% to ¥52.2 billion.
Annual U.S. tariff impact: Canon projects an annual tariff cost increase of roughly ¥50 billion, of which it expects to offset about 80% through price increases. After factoring in demand declines due to price hikes:
- Revenue impact: –¥22.2 billion
- Profit impact: –¥33.0 billion
Pricing strategy: Price increases have been implemented when possible:
- For tariffs applied in April, Canon raised prices 6–8% in June
- For additional tariffs applied in August, Canon will raise prices gradually by 3–5% from October onward
Plans for next year’s pricing will be determined after the impact on sales volume becomes clearer.
Hardware market trend: Printing hardware dropped sharply in Q3 due to customer investment delays under the tariff environment.
- Q4 expected recovery, especially for the new office MFP series imageFORCE, which is showing strong order growth.
- Laser printer sales fell in the second half due to a front-loaded purchasing surge earlier in the year to avoid tariffs, but Canon expects sales to normalize once customer inventory stabilizes.
Toshiba Tec
For FY2025 first half (April–September), the total tariff impact was ¥9.4 billion:
- Direct impact (cost increase): ¥3.8 billion
- Indirect impact (sales volume decline): ¥5.6 billion. After offsetting ¥1.5 billion through countermeasures, the net first-half impact was ¥7.9 billion.
For the second half (October–March), total impact is projected at ¥7.1 billion, with ¥4.0 billion to be offset, resulting in a net impact of ¥3.1 billion. A recovery in deferred demand in overseas retail solutions is expected to reduce indirect impact in the second half.
Full-year forecast:
- Direct impact: ¥9.5 billion
- Indirect impact: ¥7.0 billion
- Total: ¥16.5 billion
- After ¥5.5 billion in countermeasures, net full-year impact: ¥11.0 billion
Segment details:
- First-half direct impact ¥3.8B, Retail ¥0.8B, Workplace ¥3.0B
- First-half indirect impact ¥5.6B, Retail ¥5.6B
- Countermeasures ¥1.5B, Retail ¥0.8B, Workplace ¥0.7B
- Net impact ¥7.9B, Retail ¥5.6B, Workplace ¥2.3B
Full year:
- Direct: Retail ¥2.0B, Workplace ¥7.5B
- Indirect: Retail ¥5.0B, Workplace ¥2.0B
- Countermeasures: Retail ¥2.0B, Workplace ¥3.5B
- Net impact: Retail ¥5.0B, Workplace ¥6.0B
Sharp
The display devices segment saw lower revenue due to a drop in automotive-related demand following a surge in pre-tariff orders.
Full-year tariff impact on operating profit:
- Smart workplace segment (MFPs, displays, projectors, PCs): tariff impact ¥11B; countermeasures offset ¥8.5B → net ¥2.5B negative
- Smart life segment (small appliances): tariff impact ¥2.0B; offset ¥2.0B → no net effect
Company-wide, including other segments:
- Total tariff impact: ¥13.4B
- Countermeasures: ¥10.8B
- Net impact on operating profit: –¥2.5B
Fujifilm
In Q2 (July–September), Fujifilm kept the net impact of U.S. tariffs to –¥2.0 billion through pricing measures, supply-chain adjustments, and additional cost reductions. Fujifilm maintains its previously projected full-year impact of –¥6.0 billion.
Segment impact (Q2 / Full-year forecast):
- Healthcare: –¥1.5B / –¥4.0B (medical equipment)
- Electronics: –¥0.2B / –¥1.0B (semiconductor materials)
- Business Innovation: –¥0.3B / –¥1.0B (printing plates, inkjet heads)
- Imaging: No material impact reported
Konica Minolta
To absorb the impact of reciprocal tariffs, Konica Minolta implemented cost reductions along with price increases and product-mix adjustments. As a result, the first-half tariff impact remained limited.
First-half business contribution profit saw:
- Tariff impact: –¥4.2B
- Countermeasures absorbed: +¥3.6B
- Net impact: –¥0.6B
Office and production printing businesses saw a surge in non-hardware orders before price increases in May and again in September (approx. 6% increase). A rebound decline is expected in Q3.
Initial full-year tariff estimate was ¥14B, later revised to ¥13B due to changes in country-specific rates. Although recent U.S.–China negotiations may provide slight relief, no improvement has been factored into forecasts.
Konica Minolta plans to continue revising production and procurement strategies to mitigate tariff exposure from a manufacturing perspective.
Kyocera
In its May forecast, Kyocera projected a –¥17B profit impact from U.S. reciprocal tariffs. By October, thanks to price increases and other measures, the forecast was revised to a much smaller impact of –¥4B—an upward revision of ¥13B. Additionally, favorable FX movements added another ¥10B. As a result, FY2025 pretax profit was revised from ¥95B to ¥117B.
First-half tariff impact was ¥1.1B.
The solutions business—primarily information equipment (MFP-centered)—continues to struggle in Europe, especially Germany. Profit forecasts for the document solutions segment remain unchanged at –¥9B YoY (profit ¥40B), as projected in May.
Epson
Both office & home printing and commercial & industrial printing saw lower profits in Q2 (July–September) due partly to U.S. tariff costs. Tariff impact was just over ¥3.0B in Q2 and approximately ¥5.0B in the first half.
For the full year:
- August 5 forecast: –¥27.0B
- November 5 revised forecast: improvement of ¥1.0B → –¥26.0B tariff impact expected
Brother
Tariff burden in Q2 (July–September) was ¥3.0B, and ¥4.0B for the first half. As of November 10, Brother forecasts a full-year impact of approximately ¥14.0B.
However, Brother expects to fully absorb the negative impact through price increases in the U.S., expense controls, cost reductions, and production adjustments—resulting in no net profit impact.
