MANABU YAMAZAKI, President & CEO, Canon India

With the evolving demands of consumers, Canon India has identified various new business opportunities that it is rigorously building on, such as home printing solutions, medical business, new customer segments for camera business, and office automation. “Despite the hardships of the pandemic, we have grown steadily to make our presence felt across sectors in the country and have performed better than the last year,” says Manabu Yamazaki, President & CEO, Canon India. “We see an immense opportunity for Canon India to grow potentially in this market at a fast pace,” he tells Sudhir Chowdhary in a recent interview. Excerpts:

What’s your vision for Canon in India? How do you envisage the brand’s growth in the country?
Having settled in the new normal and understanding the revised strategies, we started the year 2021 with an objective to ‘Reset and Restart’, growing business through our strengths in existing divisions and expanding horizons to newer avenues. In terms of global scheme of things, India is the biggest frontier market for our business as the country is expecting a double-digit economic growth post-pandemic. Therefore, we see an immense opportunity for Canon India to grow potentially at a fast pace. Our vision is to bring in India-specific solutions that cater to the evolving needs of consumers and enable their growth in a more customised approach.

There have been a lot of avenues that we have been cultivating, and of late we have started to see a lot of potential in professional imaging devices in the film industry, which is a welcome move. The wedding industry is another segment where we are seeing immense growth potential, especially after the impact it underwent post Covid-19.

Additionally, with small businesses adjusting to the new reality of business operations, they are also upgrading their investment to ensure maximum productivity and cost efficiency. We are helping them with our reliable printing solutions apt for their requirements.

What potential business opportunities have been identified by Canon and what’s your strategy to leverage them?
With the evolving demands of the consumers, we have identified various new business opportunities that we are rigorously building on, such as home printing solutions, medical business, new customer segments for camera business, and office automation. For instance, there has been an increased focus on the health sector in the country, with significant investments in medical technology. It will be a great opportunity for us to grow further in our medical imaging business in the domain of ophthalmology diagnostic imaging and X-Ray diagnostic imaging. For our camera business, with the emergence of virtual classrooms, we have seen positive demand for our compact Canon PRO DV Models. Further, we see substantial growth in OTT segment as well for our cinematography range of products including EOS C70, with OTT platforms becoming the new movie halls.

What’s the business mix for Canon India and how has it been performing?
With equal contribution from both B2B and B2C segments to our growth, we will continue to consider relevant business opportunities in every domain. In the camera segment, we currently enjoy over 50% market share in the overall DILC category. Our interchangeable-lens digital cameras (digital SLR and compact system cameras) have maintained the No. 1 share of the global market for 18 consecutive years from 2003 to 2020.

Similarly, in the B2B business, we have retained No.1 market share in the overall Laser Copier Market (A3/A4 category), as per the latest data by IDC for Q1 2021. We want to continue this growth curve and strengthen our foothold across business domains.

What are some of the emerging trends that you foresee across both camera and printing businesses?
The recent times have evolved the customers’ needs and we have started to see trends that befit the new normal. For instance, in our camera business, there has been an increase in demand from content creators, vloggers, media streaming, and OTT production houses and the category is expected to grow substantially in the coming years. In this digital age, we are also seeing immense scope in Tier II and III markets, especially from regional content creators. Additionally, with hybrid working environment becoming the norm, Wi-Fi-enabled ink tank printers have become one of the essentials across homes. This shift in usage pattern has further proliferated the growth of home printers with a 15-20 % increase in demand when compared to pre-Covid years.