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Richa Mishra

New Delhi , Sept. 25

AFTER establishing its name in the Indian consumer electronics market Casio India Company Pvt Ltd, a 100 per cent subsidiary of the $6-billion consumer electronics major Casio, Japan, is now expecting its digital cameras range to give a further boost to its turnover. The current turnover of the company is Rs 40 crore and is targeting a turnover of about Rs 60 crore next fiscal.

"The thrust area for the company this year is its range of digital cameras," stated Mr Kulbhushan Seth, Chief Manager- Market Planning and Head of Sales, Casio India. Agreeing that there is immense confusion in India about digital cameras, he said, "Few consumers know that mega pixels are the size of the picture and not its resolution, the importance of rechargeable batteries as well as the multi-functionality of digital cameras. We are trying through our below-the-line activities to educate dealers and help clear these misconceptions to enable the consumer to choose the right product."

"The total market size of the digital cameras in India is Rs 100 crore. We expect the market to grow by 25 per cent to 30 per cent. Casio at present enjoys a market share of 15 per cent and is targeting a growth of 20 per cent," he said. The company today has an entire range of digital cameras with pixels varying from 1.2 mega pixels to 5 mega pixels. The digital cameras range from the Casio stable are priced between Rs 16,000 to Rs 50,000.

Elaborating on the Casio's product portfolio in India Mr Seth, said, "Our product portfolio in India includes wrist watches, clocks, a wide range of calculators - hand held, desk top, scientific and graphic, digital diaries, digital cameras, pocket viewers (PDA), electronic musical instruments and label printers."

Casio collection of products also includes hand-held Pocket Viewers (PDA's). The range of PDA's commence from Rs 6, 500 to Rs 8,995. "These hand held PDA's are a perfect solution for e-governance. We have already sold a batch of 5,000 PDA's to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and are in talks with other State Governments," he said.

Explaining the marketing strategy, Mr Seth said, "We simultaneously launch the products in India as soon as they are launched world-wide.

With launch of new products, we are targeting a 25 per cent growth in our turnover by next year."

"In addition to our 15 exclusive showrooms, we are also introducing the concept of Casio Digital World and Casio Digital Shoppe, which will showcase all our new technology products and provide guidance to customers.

The first store was opened in Mumbai and was followed by Delhi. On the agenda are 10 other stores in cities such as Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai and Kolkata by September 2003.

We plan to have 25 such stores by the end of the year," he said

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