In an effort to increase market share, Canon India is planning to lower the prices of entry-level digital cameras.

The company will also introduce seven new variants in the sub – Rs 10,000 category.

Overall, Cannon is likely to introduce a 24 new camera models in different price ranges in the first six months of the next fiscal, according to a senior official of the company.

The mid and lower level of the camera market is currently dominated by Nikon and Samsung.

“We intend to lower our entry price to around Rs 4,995. The basic idea is to offer product differentiation, keeping in mind the long term benefits,” Mr Alok Bharadwaj, Senior Vice-President of Canon, told Business Line .

According to him, Canon is eyeing a 40 per cent growth in revenues in the next fiscal.

Plans are also afoot to expand the network of standalone Canon stores to 300.

Canon currently has seven such speciality stores with four of them being located in Delhi and one each in Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata. In 2011, the company expects to open 100 such stores across the country.

Apart from cameras, Canon is present in digital imaging such as document management (photocopiers and faxes) and IT peripherals (printers and scanners).

The company has around 60 different products in all categories in India.