Canon's China push focuses on new segments

Canon's products display at an expo in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Japanese camera maker Canon Inc said it is stepping up its efforts to expand into the medical equipment, video surveillance and the commercial printing sector in China this year, as the Chinese market has become an important engine for the company's growth.

"China is playing an increasingly vital role in our global market," said Hideki Ozawa, president and CEO of Canon China.

"The revenue from the Asian market has accounted for nearly 20 percent of our global revenue and the camera sales in this region contributed more than 30 percent of our camera sales globally."

Hideki Ozawa, president and CEO of Canon China. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Ozawa said China has become the fastest-growing market with the most outstanding performance in camera sales, adding that with the ever-increasing spending power of Chinese consumers, their demand for high-quality cameras was also on the rise.

"It is the 20th year since Canon entered the Chinese market," Ozawa said.

"We have been devoted to imaging products, office appliances and industrial equipment for a long time. These are also a source of profit, but they are unable to support our sustainable growth."

The Japanese electronics giant has been seeking new business growth points. Last year, Canon agreed to buy Toshiba Corp's medical equipment unit for nearly $6 billion to enter the high-margin medical devices sector.

It also made a $2.83 billion cash bid to acquire Swedish network video solutions provider Axis Communications AB in 2015, to expand into video surveillance.

The company has also made an effort to go into medical equipment and security monitoring in China, as the prospects in these sectors are very promising, Ozawa said.

The CEO said Canon expected to boost its Asia revenue to $10 billion by 2020, riding the booming tourism industry in the region as well as growing demand from segmented groups including women, senior citizens and tourists.

Ozawa said big sports events which will be held over the next few years, such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, will attract a large number of professional photographers and tourists, and are expected to bring new business opportunities for Canon.

Ozawa said Canon hoped to introduce more skilled employees, capital and new products to the Chinese market, adding the group would design customized products to meet the demands of local consumers.

Shipments of digital cameras have witnessed a decline in recent years due to the popularity of smartphones.

"Cameras with built-in lenses have been replaced by smartphones, while the demand for single-lens reflex cameras is not rigid, so the era of medium and low-end camera products has come to an end," said Liang Zhenpeng, a consumer electronics analyst.

Liang said it was an inevitable trend that the camera market was shrinking and camera makers had to seek new growth points, expand product chains and move towards diversified portfolios.