Canon ready to capture competitors’ market share

By Shanuka Tissera

Canon Singapore President and CEO Kensaku Konishi was in Sri Lanka last week for a 2 day visit to meet with local Canon representatives and dealers.

Kensaku Konishi was appointed President and CEO for the Singapore region after a successful and growth driven challenge as President and CEO of Canon India Pvt, Canon Hong Kong Co. Ltd. and Canon Marketing Singapore. He is responsible for leading and overseeing the operation in the fast growing region which spans 18 countries.

A Canon veteran of over 30 years experience, he has built a sold history through innovative customer experiences and branding. He was instrumental in growing the Canon business in India and under his leadership, average growth in India was 30% y-o-y between 2007 and 2009 and reached 50% levels of growth from 2009 to 2010. Despite natural disasters in Japan and Thailand, Canon India still achieved more than 20% growth in 2011.

Canon boasts a turnover of $45 billion of which profit is 10%. 8-9% of total turnover is invested back into research and development where Canon’s team are constantly looking to design what is to become the latest norm. An estimated 20 million cameras we sold alone last year where after-service revenue creation is the company’s most valuable asset. Countries such as India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are all expecting growth levels between 30-50% the brilliant business mind shared. “The greatest challenge for us is the need to recognise our huge potential for growth. Be it in Singapore or Malaysia, the so called advanced countries or the developing countries in the region, there is a lot of room for us to grow. This is why we need to set new challenges for ourselves and have new initiatives to increase our sales, revenue and profit. With this comes the need to change mindsets. There is a lot of talent in our company and I have given myself the challenge to align these bright minds with the goals of the company.” In a time where countries are struggling to grow by 1%, President and CEO Kensaku Konishi is confident that Canon will continue to grow with a strong and aggressive strategy in after service.

Canon says that their secret to strong business is through having strong relationships with their dealers, who in turn must have a good rapport with their customers. When asked how accurately Canon can predict 5 year growth models in this economic uncertainty, President and CEO Canon Singapore Kensaku Konishi seemed to have the plan under his belt already. He shared that off course there will be fluctuations within the world markets, but most of our revenue is from after-care service. The company invests heavily in their customer service procedures in all of their products from cameras to printing and photocopying. End value is created for the user through initiatives such as the photo hub or printing hub for example. Double digit growth is the realistic target the President and CEO Canon Singapore set. “Our main challenge is to execute value proposition especially for high end cameras. We need to go above and beyond to maintain this competitive advantage. We do not rely on other companies to manufacture our products, everything is done by us and we find this to be one of our reasons of success.” The grey market in the technology industry is extremely lucrative, Canon however, are not focusing their energy on trying to eradicate the market, but instead, through creating exclusive customer care products, this grey market will slowly diminish.

Metropolitan Director CEO Region Taslim Rahaman helped to explain the tactics of Canon with respect to the domestic market in Sri Lanka. “Mobile phones have all this camera technology already, so we must create and innovate in line with consumer trends. The printing industry is a very important sector to our business and in 10 years time, we do not know how people will view their pictures.” Plans are to take Canon photo workshops, photo and print hubs across the country, with hubs in Kandy, Trincomalee and Jaffna already. We must afford this opportunity to those who may not have a chance and help educate our clients.

Kensaku Konishi is well regarded for his contribution and dedication to the company. Under his strategic leadership, Canon Hong Kong received the international award for quality, environmental awareness, health and safety management system and customer service. Canon Hong Kong was also recognised for delivering the first revolving neon sign in Asia and LED lighting wall as part of the Symphony of Light Show in Hong Kong. He led the team to achieve its highest ever sales of HK$2 billion in 2006 to enjoy growth of 72%.