Canon To Capitalize On India's Value For Money Aspiration
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With an eye on expanding deeper into the Indian market, under the leadership of president & CEO Toshiaki Nomura, Canon Group intends to maximize on India's value for money aspiration. Globally, the group holds India as one of its fastest-growing markets, "Growth in India is exponential and we call it infinite India. The growing middle class, increasing aspirations of Tier I, and II cities, and the YOLO (you only live once) factor post-COVID-19, are driving our sales in the country," Nomura, CEO, Canon India told Entreprenuer India.
Both B2B and B2C segments have been contributing equally to Canon India's growth and revenue. The consumer printer segment witnessed positive demand, marking double-digit year-on-year (YoY) growth. The business imaging solutions segment witnessed double-digit growth in 2024, specifically in colour MFDs and scanner segments. The top contributing verticals were BFSI, IT, manufacturing, aviation, pharma, government & SMB.
Furthermore, wedding photography contributed approximately 60 percent of the camera business revenue. Another key highlight has been the introduction of the North Star initiative, which has helped Canon in expanding its B2B business across segments like education, media houses, podcasts & 3D capture studios.
The president and CEO expressed optimism when sharing the company's vision for the region in FY 25-26.
Opportunities In New Businesses
"We are optimistic about growing our business in India, given the country's evolving economic strength. The first few months of the year were a good start for us and we are confident to hit the double digit growth in this year and onwards. Furthermore, in the next five to ten years, we will continue our double digit growth year by year," the CEO said.
As an end-to-end imaging solution company from input to output, all the business lines across cameras, small consumer printers to the big multifunction devices for office to the production printing for the professional users, are showing significant growth and equally contributing to the business. "We are not stopping here, apart from our core business so far, now we are investing and developing expertise in new businesses such as surveillance like CCTV cameras or other storage devices," he added.
Amongst its new businesses, Canon is also trying its luck with medical products and semiconductor lithography equipment. Its diagnostic imaging healthcare product is a top performer in Japan, with the highest market share in the category. Currently, the company is trying to mirror the product success in India and working on exploring better partnerships for its semiconductor business.
Canon believes that it has a good opportunity in India for its semiconductor lithography equipment required for chip fabrication, and it is in negotiations with companies setting up facilities here, said Nomura.
Canon claimed its machine as a low-cost alternative to ASML's ultraviolet (EUV) and deep ultraviolet (DUV) photolithography technology. When asked if its low-cost machine can help India in its semiconductor aspiration, he said, "We need to ensure a 24*7 service for our semiconductor business to pick up in India. We should assure uptime rather than discounted price. There is no purpose if we aren't able to meet the chip makers requirements. From that aspect, we are very much confident in meeting customer and chip manufacturers' demands. Price competitiveness would not stand the test of time if we aren't giving quality service."
What Works for Canon in India?
After being in India for a year, Nomura realized the market has an affinity for value for money over affordability or cheap products. "I realized that people are looking for value for money, not a cheap product. In the long term, if there is return on investment, reliability of a product, then people do not hesitate to spend. Our products are high quality, reliable, durable and long term payable. That's how we address the market and we don't fight with pricing," he explained.
Currently, production printing is one of the areas where there is a big growth opportunity for the company. Furthermore, document printing, consumer printers, multi-function devices, have various applications and are the key initiatives for the market.
Talking about challenges of doing business in the region, he mentioned affordability, pricing, as the key parameters. "We convert challenges into opportunity and thrive on creating a problem solving approach."
Canon believes its portfolio of products and solutions can empower people from all walks of life – from MNCs and corporates to a neighbourhood entrepreneur boosting the productivity and efficiency of business. "There is a shift in consumer behaviour. Growth is no more centralized in the major metro cities. Tier II, III cities' business models have been evolving and wealth is getting decentralized. We are seeing positive trends picking up across India and that's why we think the potential here is infinite," he concluded.
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