Fujifilm announced the deal on 9 September in a release from Fujifilm Business Innovation, the group company that now runs its print business. It was signed on 28 August, and the price is undisclosed. Its half-year results, published on 9 November, repeat it in one sentence and set it beside the numbers.A
Exhibit A · from the source
What moves, and when
The release lists two parts. The first is Fujifilm’s whole equity interest in
FUJIFILM Printing Plate (China) Co., Ltd., a plate manufacturer and seller. The second,
everywhere except Japan, the US, Canada and Mexico, is the transfer of the sales and related business functions for printing plate
materials, and the grant of license to use product brands and certain intellectual
property rights, including patents
. Australia is not on the list of exceptions, so
it is inside the transfer.
- 28 August 2026Transfer agreement signed with Huangshan Jinruitai Technology and its affiliates
- 9 September 2026Fujifilm Business Innovation announces it
- 9 November 2026Half-year results: plate demand weak, mainly in Europe
- By the end of 2026Equity in FUJIFILM Printing Plate (China) scheduled to transfer
- First half of 2027Plate sales and related functions outside Japan, the US, Canada and Mexico scheduled to transfer
Fujifilm describes the buyer as a leading producer for printing plate materials based in China and a
long-standing business partner of Fujifilm in this field
. That is Fujifilm’s
description; we have not read anything Huangshan Jinruitai has published about itself.
After the transfer, Fujifilm says it will concentrate on making plate materials in Japan
and selling them in Japan, the US, Canada and Mexico.
As at 11 November, Fujifilm’s Australian website still lists its CTP plate range (SUPERIA thermal, SUPERIA processless thermal, SUPERIA violet, violet, and two newspaper lines), and that page does not mention the transfer.
Why Fujifilm says it is doing it
The release puts it down to the market. These changes have accelerated the shift from offset to digital printing,
alongside growing demand for higher value-added digital presses.
Fujifilm says it will
put its effort into digital presses, centred on its Revoria Press range.
The half-year numbers back that up. Graphic Communications, the part of Fujifilm
Business Innovation that sells plates and production presses, took ¥85.8 billion in
the September quarter, up 0.7 per cent as reported and down 4.4 per
cent on a constant-currency basis. Over the half it was up 2.3 per cent as
reported and down 3.8 per cent at constant currency. The earnings presentation names one
reason for growth and one against. Production printer sales increased in new markets
. Against that:
Lower demand for printing plates due to weak market conditions, primarily in Europe
Fujifilm now forecasts Graphic Communications revenue of ¥330.0 billion for the year to March 2027, down 1.6 per cent on the ¥335.3 billion of the year before.
One supplier was an anecdote. Here are three
When we read Ricoh’s first quarter in August, its press hardware sales were down and its aftermarket was holding, and we said we would look at whether Konica Minolta and Fujifilm reported the same thing. All three have now published results for the half to 30 September 2026.
| Segment | Revenue | Change excl. currency | Press hardware | Aftermarket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ricoh, Graphic Communications | ¥144.4bn | +0.5% | Down, particularly in Europe | Solid |
| Konica Minolta, Professional Print | ¥121.6bn | see note | Down 9% excl. currency | Up 2% excl. currency |
| Fujifilm, Graphic Communications | ¥166.7bn | −3.8% | Production printers up in new markets | Plate demand lower, mainly Europe |
Ricoh’s wording is close to what it said in August. In the half, non-hardware sales of production printers remained solid, while hardware sales
declined, particularly in Europe, due to weaker demand amid uncertainty in the economic
outlook
. What changed is the second quarter on its own: Graphic Communications sales
rose 3.6 per cent excluding currency, after falling 2.6 per cent on that basis in the first
quarter. Ricoh also says Sales of inkjet heads also increased, driven by strong demand for promotional
printing applications.
Konica Minolta gives the clearest split. Production print hardware revenue fell 9 per cent
excluding currency over the half, and its unit sales of colour production machines fell
9 per cent, with the heaviest class (a million sheets a month or more) down 10 per cent. Its
report says revenue from those heavy and mid-range presses decreased due to subdued client’s appetite for investment
, while non-hardware
revenue rose 2 per cent excluding currency, helped by a larger installed base of the heaviest presses. Its industrial print
unit, which includes label presses, grew.
All three also booked refunds of US tariffs in the half, which flatters profit comparisons. We have left profit out of the table for that reason.
Our view, labelled as such
Two of the three suppliers report the pattern Ricoh showed in August: presses down, everything that keeps existing presses running up or steady. Fujifilm’s numbers point the other way on presses and show the weakness in plates instead. Read together, the three say printers are spending on running what they own and deferring new capital, and that the offset plate is now a product a Japanese major would rather license than make for the rest of the world. That is our reading of the companies’ own words and figures, not something any of them has said.
For an Australian plate buyer, the practical point is the brand licence. The box may look the same in 2027 while the company behind it changes. Nothing in the release says the plates or the recommended processing will change, and nothing says they will not. Before the sales transfer, we would ask the supplier four things: who will be the contracting party, whether current pricing and supply terms carry over, where the plates you use will be made, and who provides technical support on press. None of that is published yet. We will report who takes over plate sales in Australia, and on what terms, when Fujifilm or the new supplier says.
How we sourced this
The transfer terms, dates, the description of the buyer and the quoted reasons come from Fujifilm Business Innovation’s release of 9 September 2026. The plate sentence in Exhibit A comes from Fujifilm Holdings’ half-year financial results, and the Graphic Communications revenue figures, constant-currency changes, the forecast and the quoted factors from its earnings presentation, both dated 9 November 2026. The plate range is from Fujifilm’s Australian website, read 11 November 2026. Ricoh figures and quotations are from its quarterly report for the half year ended 30 September 2026 (dated 6 November 2026); Konica Minolta’s from its summary of consolidated results (dated 5 November 2026) and its results presentation for the same half, which gives the hardware, non-hardware and unit changes. Ricoh’s first-quarter change is from our August report of its first-quarter filing. All three companies report in yen; amounts are as published and none is converted.
What we have not done. We have not contacted Fujifilm, Fujifilm Australia or Huangshan Jinruitai, and we do not know how the sales transfer will be structured in Australia. None of the companies breaks out Australian figures, and we infer none. The four questions under Our view are ours, not anything Fujifilm has raised. We hold no position in any of these companies, and none is a client or an advertiser on this masthead.
Sources
How we put this together. AI systems researched and wrote it under our standing editorial rules, taking its facts from the primary sources below. 8 quotes were matched by software, word for word, against saved copies of the sources. How The Print Register works.
- FUJIFILM Business Innovation, FUJIFILM Business Innovation Announces Optimization of Production and Sales Structure for Printing Plate Materials to Strengthen Graphic Communications Business (news release, 9 September 2026, read 11 November 2026): the parties, the two parts of the transfer, the four excluded markets, the brand and IP licence, the undisclosed price, the 28 August signing date, the completion schedule, and the quoted descriptions and reasons.
- FUJIFILM Holdings, Financial Results (Consolidated) for Six Months Ended September 30, 2026 (PDF, dated 9 November 2026, read 11 November 2026): the Business Innovation passage on the plate transfer, page 6. Shown in Exhibit A.
- FUJIFILM Holdings, Earnings Presentation, Financial Results for Q2 FY2026 (PDF, 9 November 2026, read 11 November 2026): Graphic Communications revenue for the quarter and half, the constant-currency changes, the quoted factors, the FY2026 revenue forecast, and the US tariff refund footnote.
- Fujifilm Australia, CTP Plates (read 11 November 2026): the plate range offered in Australia.
- Ricoh Company, Ltd, Quarterly Report, half year ended September 30, 2026 (PDF, dated 6 November 2026, read 11 November 2026): Graphic Communications sales for the half and the second quarter with changes excluding currency, the quoted commercial printing and inkjet head passages, and the tariff refunds.
- Konica Minolta, Inc., Summary of Consolidated Financial Results for the Six Months Ended September 30, 2026 (PDF, dated 5 November 2026, read 11 November 2026): Professional Print revenue and change, the share transfer behind the reported decline, the quoted investment wording, the installed-base and industrial print passages, and the US tariff refunds.
- Konica Minolta, Inc., FY2026 second quarter results presentation (PDF, November 2026, read 11 November 2026): hardware and non-hardware revenue changes excluding currency, and colour production machine unit changes by class.
Buy Fujifilm plates in Australia, or have you been told how the transfer will work? Tell us and we will check it against the sources and log the outcome here.