Canon in retail thrust to take on HP, Samsung

The company aims to create a niche in the digital imaging industry which is expected to grow to Rs 3,500 crore and touch Rs 10,000 crore by 2010, reports M Rajendran.

Japanese camera and printer maker plans to add 1,000 retail outlets to its existing 2,000 and about 25 dealers to its current strength of 275 as it plans to boost revenues by 50 per cent to Rs. 800 crore in a tough market in which it faces giant Hewlett Packard in printers and Samsung and Sony in digital video cameras as competitors.

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The company aims to create a niche in the digital imaging industry which is expected to grow to Rs 3,500 crore and touch Rs 10,000 crore by 2010 and plans to increase sales staff in order to win one million customers, company officials told Hindustan Times on Wednesday.

“We realized like many companies that there was a problem in customer service. We will give special thrust on customer service by opening centres that would cater to all customer complaints from change of parts to upgradation or change of software," said Alok Bhardwaj, vice-president at Canon India Pvt Ltd.

Canon India Pvt Ltd also plans to set up company-owned shops in Delhi and Mumbai and enhance its service centres, its executives said as Canon launched 24 products that include eight digital cameras, a compact photo printer, four digital video camcorders, three inkjet printers, three laser printers and four projectors, besides a single machine to print, scan and fax.

Canon plans to target the professional market for its products while continuing its thrust on the digital home imaging market.