India is a frontier market for Canon, says India CEO Manabu Yamazaki

While software has been the superstar of the digital age, hardware has evolved significantly and companies, especially in the cameras, printers, and scanners category, have grown to meet the changing requirements of consumers.

Document printing, for example, has now expanded into a management system—a combination of software and hardware where such paper-based items are linked to the digital cloud.

Canon Inc., the Japan headquartered imaging technology company with a product portfolio spanning across digital cameras, printers, surveillance systems, and cybersecurity, is at the forefront of this evolving landscape.

The company, which entered India in 1997 and considers the country as a key market, sees demand coming in from both enterprises and individual consumers. The company aims to become a one-stop shop for its customers with a wide range of products and services.

“India is a rapidly expanding market, and we are committed to our customers through innovations for all digital imaging requirements based on industry trends,” said Canon India President & CEO Manabu Yamazaki in an email interview with Enterprise Story.

Edited excerpts:

YourStory: Canon has been present in India for more than 25 years now. How does it view the India market in the present environment from its product range perspective?

Manabu Yamazaki (MY): India stands as the most prominent frontier market for Canon’s business and the immense potential for growth in the country has empowered us to expand our portfolio and enter new avenues.

Over the last 25 years, we have strengthened our legacy in cameras, while cementing ourselves as one of the leading brands in India offering a comprehensive range of digital imaging products and solutions that caters to a vast range of customer segments.

Technology and innovations have been driving transformation in industries ranging across education, manufacturing, healthcare, etc. as well as revolutionising hybrid working systems.

Leveraging the increased adoption of automation and digitisation across the country, we have been empowering enterprises to achieve operational and cost efficiencies, and improve productivity, through our hardware and software solutions including document management systems (DMS), cloud-based digitisation solutions, cybersecurity offerings etc.

On the other hand, Tier II and III markets have been a key focus area for us in India wherein we have customised products and solutions for SMEs and startups, helping numerous jobbers or printers and copy shop owners to adapt to the changing ecosystem and scale up their business.

In these markets, we have also witnessed growth especially for professional wedding photography and have been empowering users to upskill through curated workshops, along with aiding them with relevant products.

Further, the creator economy and hybrid-working, continue to grow in numbers in recent times and have been creating significant demand for our consumer portfolio.

Overall, India is a rapidly expanding market, and we are committed to our customers through innovations for all digital imaging requirements based on industry trends.

YourStory: What are some key growth drivers for Canon in the Indian market?

MY: Canon India has witnessed a successful growth trajectory owing to our foray into new avenues and continuous expansion of our imaging technology offerings based on the market.

Our strong leadership positioning in the industry is corroborated by growth indicators across both customer and enterprise segments. On the B2B front, the ongoing digital transformation across businesses in industries such as BFSI, healthcare, SMEs, and manufacturing, has increased the demand for our automation tools and Document Management Systems (DMS).

Our range of professional printing products has also emerged as a key growth driver, led by our latest innovations that have transformed businesses. On the consumer printing front, the laser copier market has contributed significantly to our growth, and we also have been propelling the growth for an array of creative avenues for users to print out of the box.

On the other hand, when it comes to imaging, the mirrorless market continues to be a key driver for Canon’s business, especially wedding photography, vlogging, cinema and OTT.

Additionally, with network cameras becoming fundamental to the smart city infrastructure, we have been building significant momentum in this domain as we aim to become end-to-end surveillance solutions provider and systems integrator.

We have already witnessed higher growth for this business this year, acquiring customers across IT, Pharma, Logistics, BFSI, Auto and Government.

YourStory: How is the demand for Canon India products from enterprises, small businesses, and individual consumers?

MY: Supporting SMEs and the startup ecosystem has been a focus area for us at Canon India. We offer customised products and solutions for them to improve their data management infrastructure and support their business growth through our Document Management Systems (DMS) solution.

Our cloud-based solutions too, have helped our customers extensively in simplifying their business operations and save cost as they are priced significantly lesser as compared to on-premises solutions.

We have also witnessed a surge in demand for our printers not only from large corporations but also SOHOs and SMBs. Additionally, our range of imaging solutions is also seeing wide acceptance from Tier II and Tier III cities where they are getting leveraged by consumers, businesses, and enterprises of all size and scale.

YourStory: What is Canon India's digitisation strategy given the shift that is happening towards online platforms?

MY: At Canon, we have always been focused to bring forward new products and innovative technologies that will help our customers in their digital transformation journey by helping them streamline their infrastructure and bring in increased efficiency across sectors.

Industries such as BFSI, healthcare, SMEs, and manufacturing—all of which are vital to the economy's operation–have considered office automation solutions to digitise their workflows and improve work-life productivity.

Further, with the tremendous growth in data, its storage and security have transformed into key drivers for businesses. As a result, we have witnessed an uptick in demand for our document management systems, cybersecurity offerings, and office automation solutions.

YourStory: What will be the new initiatives of Canon India going forward?

MY: Being at the forefront of research and innovation to transform and adapt our portfolio based on the evolving requirements of consumers and businesses, is a top priority.

Additionally, as we tread forward, we will continue to be guided by our ‘GEMBA’ culture, which means enhancing customer connect by interacting with them on-ground.

To achieve this, we undertake regular market visits and adopt innovative on-ground activations. In this regard, the Tier II and III markets have been a cornerstone and we have been actively engaging with this consumer base through new portfolio launches and exciting marketing campaigns.

We hold a positive outlook on the vast prospects within the Indian market, particularly in the domains of surveillance and medical business. Furthermore, as small enterprises adapt to the changing landscape of business operations, they are enhancing their investments to optimise productivity and cost-effectiveness.

We will continue to actively support them in this endeavour by providing dependable solutions tailored to their specific needs. As we keep strengthening our foray into new segments and furthering our impact, we will continue leveraging industry insights to identity segments that can be further empowered through our dynamic B2B and B2C portfolios.

YourStory: What has been the growth rate of Canon India?

MY: With double-digit growth year on year, we have been able to capture the majority of the market share while diversifying our portfolio. Across segments catering to both businesses and consumers, we have witnessed a positive uptick in demand for both products and solutions.

We continue to retain our number one market share in the overall laser copier market (A3/A4 category) for the seventh consecutive year while the growth in our professional printing segment also sustained an upward trend.

In the mirrorless camera segment, we achieved a 2.5-fold increase in 2022 compared to 2019. We have also witnessed a remarkable two-fold increase in new customer segments, including Cinema, OTT, and Education, over the past year.

With an extensive portfolio spanning digital cameras, printers, surveillance, cybersecurity, scanners, and more, we provide a one-stop solution for diverse customer needs, making it a unique and versatile choice for consumers, professionals, and businesses alike.

As we continue our growth path in the country, we remain committed with a steadfast plan across its enterprise, commercial and consumer businesses.