SHARP PHOTOCOPIERS

AR-5316
Get quality and efficiency by working digitally smart To
streamline the efficiency demands of your office
environment, the AR-5316 brings you the key requirements
of modern digital...

AR-5320
A3 Paper Size, Paper Capacity 350 sheets, 16MB
Memory...

ARM-160/M-165
Multifunction takes your office to the next level with A3 Color
Scanning Introducing the AR-M160, the first affordable
multifunction solution that combines leading-edge
features ...

ARM-205/M-207
Advanced Multifunction with Full-Color A3 Scanning &
Duplexing High performance and incredible flexibility, all in a
compact desktop package, makes the Sharp AR-M205 a
solid ad...

AR-M236
The Multifunction that grows with your business Combining
advanced digital technology with powerful features, the AR-
M236 Digital Multifunctional System offers high-performance
copy...

AR-M276
State-of-the-art Multifunction for maximum office productivity
The AR-M276 is the total solution for your office document
needs. The efficient flow of printed information remains ...

AR-M312U
The AR-M312U unite advanced digital copy and print
capabilities to deliver not only faster, more productive
document output, but also versatile digital image editing
functions to ensure professional...
 AR-M420U
The AR-M420U unite advanced digital copy and print
capabilities to deliver not only faster, more productive
document output, but also versatile digital image editing
functions to ensure professional...

AR-M351N
One source for all your business needs To get ahead in
today’s ruthless business world, you need to work smarter
— not harder. Superior document management is just one
of the many ...

AR-M451N
Custom made, Ideal Solutions combining Flexibility with
Convenience Multi-tasking is the key to maximizing
productivity. That's why Sharp created the AR-M450 Digital
Imager ...

AR-C172M
The AR-C172M makes colour communications affordable
and lets you manage all your document needs effortlessly...

'Canon to focus on photocopier

segment' - The Pioneer
Tony Fitzgerald ()
11 May 1997

• Messages sorted by: [ author ][ publication ][ subject ][ thread ]

• Next message: M. K. Narayanan : "Prove by deeds, rather than by words"
• Previous message: Editorial : "Keep quiet, Joginder Singh"

Title : 'Canon to focus on photocopier segment'

Author : Tony Fitzgerald
Publication : The Pioneer
Date : May 11, 1997

With A view to building its presence further in the country, the Japanese
multinational Canon Inc. set up a 100 per cent subsidiary in India, approval of
which was received in February 1997. With its national headquarters in Delhi,
Canon India Private Ltd's prime objective is to increase the market support for
its current distributors.

Established in 1937, Canon Inc. has grown over the years to become a global giant
with an annual turnover of over $25 billion .for 1995-96. The group has 24
manufacturing facilities and over 75,000 employees. Its corporate logo is a
registered trademark in more than 150 countries.

Canon India is headed by Tony Fitzgerald, who is the Managing Director Dr

Fitzgerald began his career with Dunlop in their sports division and then moved to
Canon where he has been for the past 13 years. He has held several positions
within the group in sales administration, finance, management accounting and
service. His most recent assignment was that of Finance Director with a Canon
subsidiary in UK. Dr Fitzgerald is a fellow of the Chartered Association of
Certified Accountants (FCCA) in the UK.

Once in India, Canon will have to face competition not only from the huge grey
market, but also from companies like Modi Xerox, RPG Ricoh in the office
automation products segment, and Fuji and Kodak in the camera segment.

In conversation with Alice Guram, Dr Fitzgerald outlined the strategies of the

company in the domestic market. Excerpts from the interview:

Why did Canon feel the need to enter the country via the 100 per cent subsidiary
route? Does the company feel that the Indian market will be able to generate the
demand for Canon products in the light of the recent recession in the consumer
electronics segment?

It is our company's worldwide policy to operate primarily through 100 per cent
subsidiaries and this is the reason why we decided to take this route to set up an
office here.

Besides that, we have had a long association with India through our distributors
or 'partners', as we call them.

In fact, our cameras have been distributed by the Mahatta Camera Corporation in
the domestic market for the past four decades.

The Indian market is expected to grow into a very vibrant one soon. Canon expects
the growth rate to be the highest in the office automation segment.

And even here the black and white photocopier segment, which is the area where we
shall be concentrating in the first phase, is expected to grow at the rate of over
20 per cent per annum. In the colour photocopier segment, we expect the market to
double by the turn of the century.

In fact, India is also famous for jumping technological phases; something which
was witnessed when we jumped from manual typewriters to personal computers, the
electronic typewriter phase really did not set in and Canon expects to gain from
these jumps.
What are your present distribution tie-ups? What will be their status once the
100 per cent subsidiary starts full fledged functioning?

Apart from Mahatta Camera Corporation for cameras, our other distributors are L&T
for facsimile machines, Wipro and HCL for computer peripherals and Network for
typewriters.

We plan to go ahead with these tie-ups as the New Delhi office will now be able to
coordinate both the marketing and communication aspects between the distributors
and the Singapore office.

But as far as photocopiers are concerned we are planning to set up our own network
to distribute the product because this is the major area that we plan to focus on.
This is mainly because worldwide, while photocopiers form 55 per cent of our
sales, cameras form only 8 per cent of our sales.

But, yes, because cameras are more of a consumer product as compared to

photocopiers, the visibility of cameras is much more.

What are Canon India's investment plans? Do you propose to set up a manufacturing
base in the country?

We do intend to set up a manufacturing base in the country and the first phase of
investment is estimated to be to the tune of $9 million.

As of now we are studying the options as to where to set up the base. It is

expected that by the year 2000, we shall be able to complete Phase I of the
project. More investments will subsequently follow.

How do you propose to build your market share in the photocopier segment? What are

you doing with regard to education of the consumers with regard to usage?

We plan to lay a great emphasis on quality of Canon photocopiers through our

advertising which shall be conducted through Rediffusion DY&R. Dentsu is our
international advertising agency and in fact our corporate advertising shall be
handled directly from Singapore on the satellite channels. The local agency shall
be handling the photocopier advertising.

Basically while jobbers (small shop owners) form 15 per cent of the photocopier
market, the rest is concentrated in the hands of corporates.

It is essential to educate the jobbers on issues like print quality and imaging of
a photocopier machine in comparison to a xerographic one.

We also realise that we have to fight the major competitors like Modi Xerox (which
has a 55 per cent market share) and RPG Ricoh (with an estimated 9 per cent market
share).
But our major competitor is the huge grey market, the primary channel through
which Canon products are being sold in the country. We need to knock over this
market first. This market is estimated to be as high as 9 per cent.

When do you propose to launch your photocopiers through the subsidiary? What are
your estimated sales figures by the turn of the century?

We propose to undergo a phased launch of our photocopiers starting mid-June when

our photocopiers will be available in the Delhi and Chandigarh markets.

We shall then move to Mumbai and Pune and subsequently to Madras and Bangalore.

We expect to sell around 30,000 machines over the next five years. We shall go
nation-wide only when we have our after sales service in place in order to be able
to service our customers better.