SMART PHOTOGRAPHY DAILY BULLETIN
January 7, 2010
Editor Speaks... INDIAN IMAGING MARKET POISED TO BE A MAJOR DESTINATION OF THE FUTURE PHOTOFAIR 2010 has been aptly timed to take advantage of a year in which the Indian economy should be in excellent shape. By world standards, 2009 was not too bad for India and 2010 will certainly be much better. The imaging industry, according to our estimates, grew at around 20 percent H. S. Billimoria in 2009 and this rate should accelerate in 2010. India is now poised to become one of the major imaging markets in the world.
Photofair 2010:
Trend-Spotting Photofair has always been the place to go and find out what’s new in the coming year and this year’s edition would be no different. It’s the first major show of the year and is always a good indicator of what lies ahead for the Indian market. More that hundred new compact models will be showcased alongside D-SLRs at the venue, by different vendors, and the expo promises to be a real cracker. In fact, majority of the new models are bristling with new features, that makes it a real value-for-money proposition, and falling prices of compact cameras have provided customers with more options. Interestingly, Canon’s 10 megapixel digicam A480 retails at an MRP of less than Rs.8,000, and is bundled
in four different colors to attract the style conscious. But, it would not be wrong to say that a decade ago, a 2 megapixel camera would cost three times more than what it costs today. However, it goes without saying that the highermegapixel trend is not the only one, but there is a whole lot of innovative trends that the market is witnessing—starting from image stabilization, water resistant or shock proof cameras. Do you have the count how many new cameras have entered the market with these innovative trends? Or for that matter, has anyone counted the number of ultra zoom models with 20x lenses and higher are launched. ...Cont. on Page 4
DAY
1 TODAY AT PHOTOFAIR 2010 Uddhav Thackeray and Priya Dutt to inaugurate Photofair 2010 at 10.00am Workshop on wedding photography (in available light) by Elesh Shah. Actor Monica Bedi will be make a guest appearance at the fair. Smart Photography Awards 2010 to be presented tonight 7.30pm
at The Leela, Kempinski, Sahar, Mumbai Entry srtictly by invitation only.
Welcome to
Photofair 2010 Photofair ’10 is the annual meeting place between industry leaders and the trade representatives. Organized by the ‘All India Photographic Trade and Industry Association’, (AIPTIA), which is the largest trade and industry association that works for the promotion of the photography culture Jayesh Mehta, Hon President, All India Photographic Trade and in the country. The latest Industry Association (AIPTIA) edition is the 15th edition of Photofair, and over the years it continues to be largest Photographic and Imaging fair in the country, which is next only to Photokina (Germany) and Photo Marketing Association (P.M.A) USA. With more than 185 exhibitors from India and abroad, including major manufacturers, importers, distributors, and suppliers of Photo Imaging and allied products will be showcasing their products at the expo grounds. The exhibition will be held at Hall Number I of Bombay Exhibition Centre, NSE Grounds, from January 7- 10, 2010, from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm, covering approximately about 20,000 square metre in size. The innovative products and technologies includes: digital cameras, printers, scanners, albums, frames, accessories, and various cutting edge products. In fact, there are about 10 lakh people engaged in the photographic business. ...Cont. on Page 4
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SMART PHOTOGRAPHY DAILY BULLETIN
Editor Hoshang S Billimoria Technical Editor Rohinton Mehta Executive Editor Mathew Thottungal Copy Editor Trisha Mukherjee Senior Correspondent Sujith Gopinath Group Art Director Atul Bandekar Design Ajit Manjrekar, Sanjay Awad, Nandakishor Sawant, Ajay Paradkar Imaging Desk Ninad Jadhav, Deepak Narkar Production Dinesh Bhajnik, Manojkumar Singh Publisher Khushroo Bhadha Regional Manager - Sales and Marketing A. Mageshwar - Tamil Nadu & Kerala Area Advertising Manager Harshvardhan Verma - Delhi Account Manager Deepa Ghadi - Mumbai Gaurav Choudhary - Ahmedabad Response Executive Pooja Wankhede - Mumbai Manish Kumar - Delhi Circulation and Subscription Sanjeev Roy (Asst. Operations Manager) Sachin Kelkar (Subscription Supervisor) Kapil Kaushik (Circulation Manager, Delhi) HEAD OFFICE - Mumbai Tel: + 91 22 43525252 Fax: + 91 22 24448289 Email: sp@nextgenpublishing.net Subscription Tel: + 91 22 43525220 Fax: + 91 22 24448289 Email: subscriptions@nextgenpublishing.net
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New Delhi Tel: + 91 11 42345678 Fax: + 91 11 42345679 Email: sp@nextgenpublishing.net Chennai Tel: + 91 44 39149889 - 91 Fax: +91 44 39149892 Email: a.mageshwar@nextgenpublishing.net Pune Tel: + 91 20 32930291 Fax: + 91 20 26830465 Views and opinions expressed in the newsletter are not necessarily those of NextGen Publishing Ltd. NextGen Publishing does not take the responsibility for returning unsolicited material sent without adequate postal stamps for return postage. No part of the bulletin may be reproduced in part or full without the prior express written permission of the publisher. Published by Khushroo Bhadha on behalf of NextGen Publishing Ltd., 2nd floor, Khatau House, Mogul Lane, Mahim (W), Mumbai - 400016. Printed by Khushroo Bhadha Next Gen Publishing Ltd., 2nd floor, Khatau House, Mogul Lane, Mahim (W), Mumbai - 400016. Printed at Spenta Multimedia, 2nd floor, Peninsula Spenta, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mimbai - 400013. Published at NextGen Publishing Ltd., 2nd floor, Khatau House, Mogul Lane, Mahim (W), Mumbai - 400016. Copyright 2010 SMART PHOTOGRAPHY All readers are recommended to make their own independent enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in the publication. NextGen does not vouch for any claims made by advertisers for their products and services. The editor, publisher, printer and employees of the publication shall not be held liable for any consequence in the events of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai only.
Overview Of The Indian Imaging Market At a time when the international photographic market was impacted by recession, the Indian market generated excellent sales, especially during the festive period. And with the Indian economic outlook looking all the more promising, the domestic imaging market is expected to take off this year. The Indian imaging/photographic market is roughly over Rs.3,000 crore, with an annual growth rate of over 20 percent. In fact, this year the growth rate is likely to surge. This is because the mobile revolution has triggered the photographic culture in India. However, India still is a compactcamera market to say the least. But, with imaging majors positioning affordable D-SLRs, it’s likely to see a market transition soon. Delhi leads the fray in digicam sales followed by Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai. But one good trend that has galvanized the market is the rural market. This market is significantly opening up and is being looked upon as a big opportunity by the imaging industry professionals. The number of digital cameras sold during the last year (2009) was between 1.2 to 2 million units. The digital photofinishing equipment (imported) accounted
for a annual turnover of over 100 crore. But, the downside is that the image capture vide silver halide process is getting increasingly out-of-focus. Digital image capture has increased. This is because the capture output in sectors from education, medicalto-business applications has shot up. Even the market for printing from dye sublimation printers has moved on from zero to a noticeable percentage of increase. The Inkjet printing media has increased by over 10-20 percent during the last year. Color paper sales has shot up to 55 million square meters, but film sales dropped to 10 million rolls. The total market for films, paper business was over Rs.500 crore last year. The chemical processing part adds up by another 10 percent to the aforesaid revenues. But, the good news is that, the Indian imaging market recorded an overall growth in all the categories, except the silver halide processes, which plummeted the most. With Photofair 2010 happening at the beginning of the year, the expo is likely to showcase the wonders of the imaging technologies and considering the economic outlook, the market is expected to change for good.
Mathew Thottungal
STATISICS OF THE INDIAN PHOTO MART Rs. 3,000 cr Rs. 1,000 cr Rs.100 cr 55 mn sq mt Over 10-20% 1.2-2mn units 10 mn rolls
Value of the Indian photo/imaging market Value of the Indian digital camera mkt in ’08 - IDC Research Sales turnover of imported photofinishing equipment Consumption of photographic paper Growth of inkjet printing Annual sales of digicams in 2009 Value of the film processing
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CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Welcome to Photofair 2010 The product line-up of international brands that will be exhibiting at the expo are Kodak, Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus, Samsung, Panasonic, Hewlett Packard, Epson, Mitsubishi etc., along with Indian counterparts that includes: Photquip, Canvera etc. Unlike, the common perception amongst the general public that the photographic industry is centered round Metroplotian cities in the country, Photography related services are available on a pan India basis, which includes even villages, which comes to over 5 lakh in number.Digital Imaging is widely accepted by the people and the sale of digital cameras, memory cards, and recordable media such as CD and DVD is growing phenomenally. On printing side, people have started getting prints made on Photo Paper/ Inkjet paper from mobile phones.
Besides, printing on thermal paper is on the increase. I personally feel that the government should look into the quantum of self employment being generated by the industry and therefore consider to treat this industry at par with the IT industry. If the government encourages this industry, by giving necessary concession in Import Duties of photographic equipment and considerable reduction of the Custom Excise Duties (CVD), there will be more demand created, resulting in further growth in GDP and would go a long way to help eradicate unemployment. However, the significance of all pervasive digital technology stands above all for the growth in photo imaging market the world over by offering new areas of development. The global players have identified India as a strategic market for Imaging Products. The expected growth rate in digital photography in the year 2010
will be above 10 percent from present industry size of Rs.3,000 crore. Photofair 2010, is expected to attract more than 50,000 visitors both from India as well as overseas to witness the cutting edge technologies and latest products available on display under one roof. Even the visitors will interact with manufacturers and suppliers and in the bargain enrich themselves with the latest technologies and trends. I am sure that all of you who will be visiting this broad platform will leave the venue with satisfaction of gaining useful information about the Photographic Trade and Industry. On behalf of All India Photographic Trade & Industry Association, I wish you a successful and interesting stint at Photofair 2010. And it will assuredly prove to be the best business decision you will make in the entire year.
Photofair 2010:Trend-Spotting The HD movie clip feature is another innovation, in many new-generation still cameras, all the way up to 1080p and 16.9 frame format. What about intelligent exposure, which automatically conducts the mode setting tasks, that customers had to do it manually earlier? Previously, we only thought that a burst of frames at 2 per second was quite an achievement, but how about 1000fps? Likewise, we considered that cameras with higher pixels were good, but how about recombinant pixels that can make one out of two? Check out the latest Fujifilm compact model that can simply turn on by giving the camera a tap or a shake? And there are others like Olympus and Canon with similar features in the line-up.
with the EXR technology starts, with a 12-megapixel imager, whose pixels can be merged, two into one, resulting in 6 million extra large pixels. Fuji calls it Pixel Fusion Mode and the same is evident in the FinePix S200.
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY
Sony’s DSC HX-1 features a 28 – 560mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.8-5.2 lens providing 20x zoom. Then there is the Pentax X70 with a 26-264mm equivalent lens providing 24x zoom.
Fujifilms Super CCD is a revolutionary technology pioneered by the company with the latest version will be exhibited at the venue. In fact, the latest version
Moreover, the first consumer digicams had 3x zoom lenses with a wide-angle extreme in the vicinity of 35mm equivalent. At present, visitors will find a handful of cameras with zoom ranges exceeding 20x, many in fact starting at 28mm equivalent. The models that you should look out for are the Canon SX1 IS with 20x lens, which has to ability to shoot images in RAW—a rarity in the non D-SLR category.
But, the camera to watch out for is the Olympus Ultrazoom SP-590UZ with its 26x zoom range. One of the most noticeable revolution in recent days is the HD video, which has made its way into still cameras, with Canon and Nikon bundling the same in its high-end D-SLRs. Canon specifies that its PowerShot D10 withstands cold down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit. The other interesting aspect in the Olympus SP590 is that the camera function can be activated in water by simply tapping the camera. Having discussed all the innovation, Photofair 2010 certainly promises to offer a lot more and be sure there is always something interesting to watch out for and the latest edition of Photofair 2010 will surely engulf you.
Mathew Thottungal
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Even though the organizers AIPTIA proclaimed that Photofair’10 was fully booked, yet it’s unfortunate that a couple of companies, including Canon is not part of the exhibitors profile. What really went wrong that hastened your exit from this year’s edition after being one of the most prominent exhibitors over the years. There are several photo exhibitions that are held worldwide and Canon participates in as many as possible. Canon has a policy of being the leading company in terms of visibility and experience to customers at all exhibitions that it participates in. We had done the same thing in Photofair last year and in many other exhibitions. In 2010, we decided to take an aggressive stance and we are launching a Mumbai-specific project for our camera business coincidentally at the same time. The whole planning part of this took us a while, during which, we failed to secure the leading position in the exhibition and hence we decided to give it a pass for 2010. However, Canon will always be seen in various photo centric leading exhibitions in India.
How important is a trade and industry show like Photofair for a company like Canon to give it a miss? But more than the controversy, the die-hard Canon enthusiasts will be robbed of the opportunity
Spokesperson : Kensaku Konishi Designation : President & CEO, Canon India
to touch and feel the latest gadgets from the numero uno company. Comment. We understand that this may cause some inconvenience to Canon customers and enthusiasts. However, since we are launching a mass customer contact program in Mumbai, we will ensure that our customers have the opportunity to enjoy the Canon experience close to them.
“Canon to launch a mass customer contact program in Mumbai”
The year 2009 has been an eventful year with recession and slowdown taking its toll on the imaging industry. But, on the contrary in India, if the last festive period sales is to be believed, it has certainly contributed towards unprecedented sales across the country. How has been the year review for the imaging industry in general and for Canon in particular? Canon’s camera division posted a growth of 32 percent over 2008 with D-SLR’s showing a huge surge in demand. Canon is one of the very few companies that grew in the so called recession
time. Festival times in India are becoming increasingly more important for consumer buying. There are now consumers who have some compelling reason to trigger off desires to do shopping. Festival times were the seasons we noticed that the growth was good, more so because last year the festival season witnessed a slower growth. We have shown almost over 40 percent growth in the last quarter as compared to the last quarter of 2008.
Micro Four Thirds has revolutionized photography, especially given its plethora of features and convenience. And with other leading imaging majors, like Sony, Pentax, and Fujifilm announcing their intentions to join the fray, it will certainly make it tough for others like Canon to stay competitive. Comment. Canon is a pioneer in technological research and adoption worldwide. However, since we have received excellent response to our current technologies used in our camera line up, we are currently studying various trends and technologies in cameras including the Micro Four Thirds System very carefully. We believe it would act as a bridge between compacts and D -SLR’s. However, as a rule, we do not comment on competitor strategy.
Mathew Thottungal
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While the year 2009 was a promising year for the Indian digital camera sales, in contrast to other developments in the market, India is still a very compact camera sales driven market. The key technology developments are enhancements of the existing functionality, alongside incorporating stylish and trendy designs. Is Kodak keeping pace with these trends in their product lines, which are on display at Photofair’10? The Digital Camera market continued to remain buoyant through 2009 and ended with an annual growth of over 30 percent in 2009 The market penetration for digital cameras is still very low at 2-3 percent of consuming households, and hence, over 70 percent of households are first-time buyers looking to buy a value camera. Hence the market continues to be a compact camera market. While the market continues to be a value-priced market, Kodak in 2009 changed the paradigm by moving the market to higher zoom in the style and featured segment—Kodak launched five new cameras with 5x and 10x zoom. And also launched two 10x small-form factor cameras priced attractively, as consumers in urban markets look for style and better features
In the recent past, Kodak pioneered the Kodak Retail chain Labs across the country. However, in the digital age, you have extended the concept to engage the customers into
Spokesperson : Spokesperson : Designation : Designation :
Avinash J Trivedi, Ravi Karamcheti, Head, B&I Department, Managing Director, BPP Division, Kodak India Sony India
having fun with their images. This being an urban-based strategy, do you plan to replicate this across B and C class cities and towns in the near future. Our strategy to engage customers to have fun with images extends to both urban as well as B and C Class towns. The main enabler for this is the Kodak Kiosk and Order station. The Kodak GS Order station can be connected to our Kiosk as well as Noritsu Digital minilabs. Using this, customers can do more with images and get personalized prints easier and faster. Our strategy for modern trade is currently limited to urban markets. This is because we feel that the infrastructure required to be successful is still evolving and is mainly there in the top five cities. As this modern trade channel evolves, we will expand with that.
However, one problem with modern trade sales is that they sell cameras as mere boxes, and in addition, does little to engage customers and help them make an informed choice. How do you plan to educate consumers, so that they are convinced about what they are buying are products that meet their wants and requirements? We work with many of our modern trade partners towards ensuring a satisfying shopping experience for the consumer. We have invested in well-trained promoters placed in each of these stores to enable consumers make an informed choice. In addition, Kodak creates special touch-feel-try opportunities at modern trade stores during ‘hot’
seasons to help consumer try their range of products before deciding their purchase. We believe that as the modern trade and general retail environment evolves, the consumer shopping experience will only get better.
The year 2009 has been an excellent year for the imaging industry with camera sales touching new highs. What is Kodak’s strategy to sustain growth and also to better its own performance in 2010. Year 2009 was a great year for Kodak. We launched 11 new models of cameras including the first Kodak camera designed for the Indian market— the C140. We ended the year as the firm No. 2 in compact cameras in India as per both the IDC and GfK audits with a share of around 20 percent. The Kodak C140 camera continued to be the single largest selling camera model from any brand through the major part of 2009. The compact digital camera market in 2010 is expected to grow at more that 25 percent in 2010 as per IDC, Kodak plans to grow at over 40 percent. Kodak will launch a host of new digital cameras and DVC products in 2010. Plans are afoot to launch over 15 new models in 2010 including products designed specifically for the Indian market. The cameras would also incorporate host of innovative features not seen in the market till date.
Mathew Thottungal
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What are the latest trends that are taking shape in the printing industry and how is Epson gearing up to keep pace with the same? While technology is constantly evolving and even as our printers continue to push the boundaries of quality and reliability, Epson as a digital imaging leader is currently engaged in creating a sort of revolution that is sweeping across emerging markets like India. This revolution is taking technology to the doorstep of the smallest unit in the Indian photo industry namely the small photo studios, which dot the length and breadth of our country. From the smallest towns to the largest metros so to speak. We are in the process of giving customized photo finishing solutions across possibly the largest majority of the Indian photo industry by ensuring that the technology we provide is the of highest order, while at the same time providing an effective pricing, which make it affordable to this large user base. As we have seen in recent times the strength of the Indian economy is in its rural consumer base and we need the latest technology to reach them and that’s exactly what Epson is aiming to address on a timely basis.
Do you see an upsurge in the demand for photo printing given the color stability and overall quality that your printer offers over that of retail printing and how do you propose to enable professional photographers to make the transition? Yes we are very upbeat about the surge in demand, which we are witnessing for last few years and expect it to further expand as we focus into deeper pockets in coming years. The best professional
Spokesperson : S.M. Avinash RamJ Prasad, Trivedi, Designation : Senior Head, B&I Business Department, BPP Division, Manager, Consumer Sony IndiaEpson India Products,
photographers across the world and in India only swear by Epson’s print quality with most refusing to use anything else now. We notice that increasingly more professional photographers who want to see the best output of their hard work are turning to us rather than conventional lab prints. We only expect this to increase as we go forward. With regards to the product pricing and reach Epson as a company today has understood the requirement of the three key category users who form the majority of photo consumers— amateur, professional, and commercial photographers. Based on our thorough understanding, we have positioned our products, which are specially made for each category and provide the much needed value-formoney for all our users. So, based on your usage area you will get the same high quality product, which will exactly suite your requirement and which also doesn’t make a hole in your purse!
“The best professional photographers across the world only swear by Epson’s print quality” What are some of the innovations that you plan to put into your product lines especially, given the fact that Epson has identified India as a high growth market in the region? The consumable market, which is key to growth is dominated by unorganized players including, re-fillers and
compatible suppliers. How do you plan to educate the consumer in such a volatile market to understand the economics of it? We have lots of innovations planned for the coming year. Some of the latest innovations as I already mentioned are on display at our stall at Photofair this year. This includes a fantastic new PictureMate with a Digital Photo Frame which can print. Epson has always had an enviable growth not only on our product sales, but also with our consumables sales, which at times goes much beyond our forecasted sales expectation as well. This clearly shows majority of the customers appreciate the quality as well as the value for money in Epson consumables. The refillers and non-genuine consumable players are more like parasites who try to grow at our cost using inferior inks. However, with the kind of ink technology that Epson has developed over the years and the very affordable prices the customers today understands the significance of using Epson’s original consumables. If at all there is one segment, which we feel has succumbed to economics rather than focused on quality and the value equation, it’s the commercial photo printing segment and even in this space we have been quite successful with our innovative product approach. In fact, we will see much more activity in this space to ensure this customer also makes the shift towards quality products without much compromise in pricing, thereby, ensuring that customer are not left out.
Mathew Thottungal
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What do you think will be the next innovation where portable memory is concerned, especially with NAND Flash getting increasingly popular with the advent of new digital devices being introduced into the market? What is it that Kingston will usher in terms of innovation at Photofair’10? Portable memory has grown beyond its basic usage of storing data. It is now also used for sharing, higher speeds, higher capacity, and newer applications. Innovations at Kingston are all in line with this new usage pattern. The latest offering from Kingston, which will be on display at Photofair 2010 will include high capacity, high speed SD and CF cards for photographers, and also SSDNow for people who like to do more than just photo editing.
With global prices of memory cards dropping because of recession and excessive inventory, 1GB cards have practically disappeared from shopfronts and 2GB becoming increasingly popular. But, with the HD video clips being added as a new feature in DSLRs, the demand for 4GB and 8GB cards will gain momentum. How does Kingston see the changing dynamics especially, where SDHC cards are concerned? Since there are more and more
Spokesperson : Vishal Parekh, Designation : Marketing Manager, Kingston Technologies
applications for the new and advanced devices, the need for speed and storage space has increased. As you mentioned HD feature in D-SLRs, has triggered the demand of largercapacity memory cards. We have seen a very significant shift from 2GB to 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB cards. Even at the amateur level, we see a sudden shift from 1GB to 4GB. I may sound optimistic, but shift from 4GB to 8GB doesn’t seem to be too far. Looking at the increasing demand and newer usage patterns of SDHC cards, Kingston is presenting Class 4 and Class 6 SDHC cards, featuring fast speed, compatibility, reliability, and durability in this fair. The various Class categories will help the photographer to select the best option for him. We have also launched SDHC Video cards with Class 4. These are defined in minutes so as to help the customer to buy the card as per his requirement.
In high-end photography, speed and performance are very critical issues that professionals have to endure in their creativity. How does Kingston address these issue and what are the latest capacities in storage both in the CF as well as SDHC format that you have introduced into the market and at Photofair in particular? For the professional photographers, Kingston
has different product lines to meet the demands of different consumer segments. CF cards provide great values for the amateurs, CF Elite Pro cards let enthusiasts experience high-speed performance; the ultimate speed of CF Ultimate cards is what professionals are demanding. SDHC memory card product family has different speed classes, including Class 4 and Class 6, that deliver a minimum data transfer rate for optimum performance with SDHC devices. The 32GB is the latest and largest capacity that Kingston has presented in the market.
Have you planned anything special to engage with the customers to showcase the wonders of your technology at the expo and how? Yes. Engaging customers during the fair has always been interesting for us. We want them to spend some time with us leaving behind their worries of what to buy and which product is best for him. We try to de-stress them with activities at our booth. To top it, we build a healthy competitive environment and challenge them to test their skill sets as a photographer. If one is able to beat his boredom and he is able to enjoy, he takes home some or the other goodies from Kingston. Display of latest products well trained staff, solving customer queries and concerns are all there by default.
Mathew Thottungal
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What according to you does a visitor/enthusiast anticipate and expect to see while visiting Nikon’s booth at Photofair ’10? Photofair 2010 will witness Nikon’s participation at a larger scale than last year. We have tried to replicate Nikon’s shop in shop stores in this edition of Photofair to re-instate and celebrate technology brilliance of Nikon products. Nikon shop in stores (shop) are based on our core belief of providing touch and feel experience that facilitates buying decision of the discerning customers at point of purchase. Hence, separate zones are designed for demonstrating technology capabilities of some of our top-line products like D3S, S1000pj, D3000, D5000 etc. during the Photofair. Nikon India team is also excited about announcing a momentous milestone; using the Photofair 2010 as an ideal launch pad, we will be introducing Nikon School, one of the key route to cultivating photography culture in India. We hope, Nikon patrons will like the semblance/display. Since ‘After Sales Service’ is one of our most important part, we also plan to host free service camps for our customers to allow easy access to after sales service during the Photofair.
The year 2009 has been a record breaking year for Nikon. In your assessment how important is quality, design and affordability in influencing consumer mindsets? At present, Nikon offers a wide
Spokesperson : Hidehiko Tanaka, Designation : Managing Director, Nikon India
range of cameras for a varied range of consumers. Each of Nikon’s cameras are meant for photography enthusiasts of different levels, be it professional, amateur, casual day-to-day or occasional photographers. All of them are smart and aware individuals who know what they want in their camera. We believe, with 90 years of imaging excellence, Nikon has become a synonym for quality. Nikon has always been high on innovation, from introducing the cameras that reach the outer space (Nikon
“Nikon has been growing exponentially more than the industry’s growth rate” Cameras are also used by NASA) and also the first of its kind NIKONOS underwater cameras. We are continually innovating cutting edge cameras to satisfy the evolving needs of the photography community. Our aim has always been and will be to produce the best (cameras) for the best (consumers). This approach will ensure our success world over.
What are some of the new initiatives that you plan to engage with the visitors at the fair in order to attract footfalls? Recently, Nikon has undertaken an initiative of moving from a National distribution network to regional and channel-specific distribution hubs ensuring its customers
receive enhanced services. This means that Nikon has come closer to its end-users to facilitate the company gaining strength in each potential region. This will further contribute to camera sales across the Photo, IT, and Consumer electronic channel. With a clearcut role defined for each regional distributor for their market, the outreach will be more efficient— Nikon will have an improved control over the network. Nikon has already appointed 22 local distributors across India and aims to increase this number to 28 by this year-end, under which a total of 1,200 retailers will be targeted, strengthening the network. Beginning this year, the company has been setting up shop in shop D-SLR Zones and COOLPIX Zones in India. Nikon intends to scale up to over 100 such outlets by 2010-end.
In terms of numbers what was Nikon’s overall sales in 2009 and secondly, do you believe it was the best year for Nikon in India in terms of marketing? The camera market for India is very small as compared to the worldwide market. Digital camera market has grown at a rate of 50 percent this year and similar growth pattern is expected for 2010. Nikon has been growing exponentially more than the industry’s growth rate. Nikon’s compact segment is likely to touch 13 percent from 6 percent at the end of this fiscal, suggesting an immense potential of camera industry’s growth. The D-SLR market share has grown to 42 percent vis-à-vis last year from 29 percent.
Mathew Thottungal
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Spokesperson : Kenji Nakagawa Designation : Manager Overseas Sales and Marketing, Tamron, Japan
With the commissioning of Tamron India office in Delhi, what is the significant change that has happened in Tamron’s marketing activities? How was last year for your company in terms of growth?
have contributed a significant rise, especially towards the end of 2009. With affordable D-SLRs, being the new rage, it’s a welcome addition for Tamron to usher in innovative lenses. Comment
After the establishment of Tamron India Liaison office, we have started marketing research in local cities of the country. It is still too early for us to say that we have increased our sales significantly, because we are still studying and experiencing the local market in different areas. India is a huge country and we need more time to enhance and motivate our sales force.
As you say digital compact camera market has matured and every big company suffer getting less profit while Tamron enjoys good profit, selling interchangeable lenses for D-SLR cameras. India still has a lot of potential with the market still in the growing stage, but we need to make sales of our kit lenses for the affordable camera bodies available in the market, so as to increase the company’s market share.
The sales in the Indian market
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What are the new lenses that you are exhibiting at Photofair’10 and with wedding photography market holding a lot of promise in India, are you contemplating introducing any new wide-angle lenses? We are not exhibiting new products on the sidelines of Photofair 2010. But we will display Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens with VC, which is good performer both indoors as well as in low light conditions. The lens is ideal for wedding photography market. In addition, we will display the Tamron 60mm Macro f/2.0 for portrait and macro photography as well at the expo.
Mathew Thottungal
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For latest updates visit
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