The Hindu Business Line : Canon eyeing Rs 500-cr turnover by next year

Global photographic and digital imaging major Canon on Wednesday, identified India as a key market for the South and South-East region and said that it would invest about Rs 40 crore in a brand-building exercise, as it eyes a turnover of Rs 500 crore by next year.

"We have experienced good growth in India, currently at about 30 per cent. To further consolidate the growth we will be investing about Rs 30-40 crore in marketing and brand-building exercise," Mr Alan Grant, President and CEO, Canon India, said.

"Our growth in India last year was primarily driven by the copier segment, but going forward we expect the compact digital camera segment to contribute significantly," Mr Grant added.

Out of Canon India's total turnover of about Rs 290 crore last year, 50 per cent was from the copier segment, while the digital camera category contributed about 16 per cent, which the company expects to increase to 27 per cent.

"This year, we are expecting to touch 1,00,000 units of digital camera, nearly a growth of about 200 per cent compared to last year," said Mr Grant.

The company is also expanding its distribution network with plans to increase its retail chains to 100 by next year. By December 2006, the number will go up to 45 from the current 35. "We are also planning to increase the number of our flagship stores to 442 by the end of next year," Mr Grant said.

Currently, there are 227 retail outlets including 140 IT Imaging Zones, 40 Digiclick zones, 14 Home Cinema Centres, three Canon X'perience and 30 Canon Care Centres.

He said that Canon, which is currently the second biggest player in the digital camera segment in India, is looking to topple the leader in India, Kodak. "We have about 20 per cent market share in the digital camera segment and the effort is to improve upon it and be the number one." The top three players, Kodak, Canon and Sony have almost similar market shares, he added.

Canon India on Wednesday also introduced 51 new products for the consumer, small and home-office segments that include new digital cameras, digital video camcorders, scanners and printers.

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