Ricoh Co has come out with the Ricoh RF2000, a facsimile mail device that is in effect a controller for linking facsimile transmitter-receivers – including telex and computers with fax boards – to up to eight lines: it has 30Mb memory and costs around $11,000; four of these devices are already installed in trading company C Itoh & Co’s international network, and Ricoh looks to sell about 50 in the first year; at the same time, Ricoh is strengthening its facsimile product line in other ways, aiming at the high end of the market where laser printers engines are used in the fax machine; the Japanese market is still seen to be growing at 20% a year, and Ricoh is promising a Group IV fax machine with with ISDN support for launch this month; typical price for a fax machine in Japan is $1,600, but Ricoh is also working on a plain paper model that well start at around $4,000.
