Maybe, we all need to dig a little deeper. Could Ricoh just be buying these accounts to keep dealers out, meaning once they are the incumbent a dealer can't take the business away. I understand in this account they were the incumbant, however if they are willing to lose money (and I heard Ricoh lost a ton of money in the US this year), why not go out and buy all of the large accounts, fortune accounts and leave the scraps for the dealers?
Mind you, this is also happening with KM, Sharp, Xerox, Canon and Toshiba Direct and anyone who states it is not happening with the other Direct Branches has been brainwashed.
Why doesn't Ford, Chrysler, and GM own car dealerships, did they have a better business model, no they saw the writing on the wall and new that this type of distribution would lead to a comodity driven market and with hefty unions in place, the car manufacturers would have been out of business 10 years ago with that type of business model.
There is no answer except consolidation...... until that time, Direct Branches will continue to buy the business that they need, the weak pockets will not survive, right now it's a battle of who has the deepest pockets.