Canon India seeks partners to up digital camera, printer sales

Venkatachari Jagannathan
20 May 2003

Chennai: Digital imaging products company Canon India () is soon to ink a deal with a personal computer manufacturer and a software company to increase the sales of its digital camera and printers.

The company hopes to capitalise on this tie-up as it is eyeing India's metro and major city markets. Company officials, however, are not willing to disclose more details about the proposed alliance.

Meanwhile, it is image-building time at Canon India. After making couple of wrong moves, which includes going back on promises made to the channel partners earlier, Canon India is toning up its image to capture a decent market share for its products. While the brand occupies the top slot in many Asian markets, in India it is not the case.

There won't be any going back on promises, company officials assure the channel partners. Last year Canon India appointed 300 channel partners and 1,800 resellers to cover small towns and now the company is in the process of selecting new partners to target specialised market segments.

Says Canon India president and CEO Allan Grant: "It is now kyocei at Canon India. Kyocei [it's Japanese] means living and working together for the common good."

Underscoring that point is Alok Bharadwaj, director and general manager, who says the company will be launching a media blitzkrieg highlighting the importance of using original consumables like inks, cartridges and toners to provide regular income for the channel partners.