Japanese camera-maker Olympus was not a brand that consumers preferred few years ago. With hardly any presence in the Indian DSLR (lens cameras) market, the camera-maker had lost its market share from 15 per cent in 2007 to 3 per cent in 2011.

However, it has since made a comeback. The company has not only set up an Indian subsidiary last April but also shifted focus from compact to DSLR segment.

Its Managing Director for India, Kenichiro Mori, told Business Line that the company is looking at shifting its focus from a volume to a value game.

The company has for the first time launched a mirror-less SLR camera priced above Rs 1 lakh. Edited excerpts:

You spoke about shifting strategies in the Indian market to regain your market share. Can you elaborate?

The brand Olympus has been present in the Indian market since 2005 with compact cameras mostly.

However, we saw that the overall compact camera segment is getting obsolete with the emergence of camera phones. The compact segment has fallen by 15-20 per cent and this was one of the reasons why we lost our market share.

We are now shifting our focus to high-end DSLR cameras. We are also looking at strengthening our distribution network and after sales service.

If things go as planned, we will soon be at 10 per cent of the total market in value terms and not volume.

Now that phone makers besides stalwarts such as Canon, Nikon and Sony are in the fray, how do you plan to tackle competition?

Olympus is trying to build a brand based on its core competency.

While other players already have established their business by opening subsidiaries here way back in 2005, we were little late in doing so. We are trying to understand the consumer mindset in India and they want a good after sales service.

Our focus is to give good service. We are opening collection centres even in very small towns, where consumers can give their cameras for servicing in the main centres. For example, a city like Guwahati has 47 such centres. Besides, we have opened 14 service centres.

How do you plan to reach out to customers in small towns?

We are aggressively ramping up our distribution and dealer network. For this, we have tied up with modern retailers such as Croma, Vijay Sales, Reliance Digital, and are looking at more such partnerships.

We are also looking at making our product available with smaller retailers too. For example, in Mumbai alone we have 200 dealers. Our focus at the moment is to improve our visibility.

We are the global pioneers in the imaging business. We are launching more products at several price points. We are also planning collaborations with photo institutes next year, which will help upgrade the gen next consumers about new technology in imaging.

How is the demand for mirror-less cameras, which you launched recently, in the Indian market?

Mirror-less cameras are the future of imaging. It is first-of-its-kind technology. Globally, there are several markets where mirror-less cameras form about 50 per cent of the professional camera market. We are looking a double-digit growth in the segment in another four years.

priyanka.pani@thehindu.co.in

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