Eyeing aggressive growth in the Indian camera market, Canon plans to introduce a slew of products this year, including Wi-Fi cameras that will allow users to easily load pictures from cameras to various devices such as computers, tablet PCs and smartphones. The Japanese digital imaging major will also be launching new compact and SLR cameras besides camcorders to further consolidate its position in the Indian market.
“The cameras with Wi-Fi technology, which has already been launched in Japan and will be available in India in the next few weeks, will help users instantly transfer their photos and video clips to their devices wirelessly. This is first such offering in India by any camera company...it clearly underlines the importance that Canon gives to the Indian market,” Canon Inc Managing Director and Chief Executive (Image Communication Products Operations) Masaya Maeda told a group of visiting journalists here.
The introduction of Wi-Fi technology to cameras is the Canon's answer to the challenge being posed by smartphones that now comes loaded with hi-end cameras and used to upload pictures directly on the Internet, particularly social networking websites. Canon hopes that Wi-Fi technology will give users the ease to transfer pictures to various devices.
Interestingly, Canon Inc has also come up with special applications for Apple Computers' iPad and iPhone allowing pictures from Canon cameras to be downloaded directly to these gadgets. To give more choices to its users, the Japanese firm is now planning to come up with similar applications for other operating systems, particularly Google's Android.
Growing sales
“Growing sales of cameras clearly proves that cameras phones have failed to make any kind of dent to our business. It is not just about pixels but about various options and features that cannot be packed even in hi-end smartphones. In fact, sales to hi-end compact cameras and SLRs are growing fast. Now the Wi-Fi feature will only compliment other gadgets like tablet PCs and smartphones and help users transfer pictures to the Internet instantly,” said Canon India Senior Vice-President Alok Bharadwaj.
The Wi-Fi products that Canon will be introducing in India next month are two compact digital cameras and four camcorders, while the world's largest camera-maker also plans to introduce over a dozen other products by mid-2012 that includes the Cinema EOS 300 (C300) specifically targeted at the entertainment industry.
Third position
Canon, which now enjoys the third position in the Indian compact camera market at 15.5 per cent market share only after Sony and Nikon and a close second in the SLR market with 44.8 per cent market share behind Nikon, aims to take its total sales from Rs.1,525 crore in 2011 to Rs.2,280 crore in 2012, a growth of 50 per cent. “We hope to reach Rs.5,000 crore sales in 2015…today we are contributing one per cent to Canon's revenues of $45,608 million, but in next few years it will go up to 5 per cent, thanks to the India growth story,” Mr. Bharadwaj added.
