Canon establishes long-term project to AL

Is a nice evening in Kyoto, in the Center-South region of Japan. The country's Capital until 1868, when the Government was transferred to Edo, now Tokyo, the city is the Centre of an ancient practice: preparation of geishas, or "geiko" as they are known in the country. By tradition, girls ages 15 years bind to a Geisha House ("okya"), where they undergo a strenuous training. So much so that for each 80 girls enrolling per year, 60 quit in the first year of study. This afternoon, a geiko and apprentice ("maiko") dance and serve the guests in the restaurant Sa-A-Mi, located on Maruyama Park. With delicate and precise gestures, with subtle beauty of her art.
Precision is also a requirement associated with another icon of Japan-photography. And as in the preparation of the Geisha, this is an activity that has left many people along the way. In recent years, groups like Kodak, United States, and Olympus, Japan, lost space by strategy or management failures. The stumbles have opened space for newcomers in the area, such as the Korean Samsung and LG, which moved aggressively in the industry. In Canon, traditional Japanese manufacturer of cameras and printing equipment, the reaction was to reformulate the product line and expand business in emerging countries.
In the Latin American market, the onslaught of the Canon has been slower than competitors such as the LG, and the Japanese Sony, Panasonic and Fujifilm, which already have factory in Brazil and in other countries in the region.
Goal is to get strong sales growth in the region, from a well thought-out action plan
The expectation in the Canon is to achieve strong growth in Latin America in the coming years, said Fujio Mitarai, Chairman and Chief Executive of Canon, during a recent meeting with journalists in the region, in Tokyo. "In the Decade of 70, Asia accounted for 7% of Canon's business. Now, represents 23%. The Latin America experiences a growth similar to that experienced in the past Asia, "said the Executive. In ten years, the projection is that the region will represent 20% of the overall revenue of the Canon. Last year, the share accounted for 8% of the net revenue of the company.
The Canon recorded a 9.7% drop in net profits in 2012. The winnings totaled 224.56 trillion yen (US $ 2.58 billion). Revenue fell 2.2 percent to 3.48 trillion yen ($ 40 billion). The performance was hindered by reduced global demand for compact cameras and printers. The Americas Division (which includes North, Central and South America) registered 8.9% drop in sales, to 940 billion yen (US $ 6.75 billion). When taking the Latin America, however, the sales result was positive, according to Taro Maruyama, President and Chief Executive of Canon in the region.
As the route that separates the maiko geiko, the Japanese manufacturer's plan to make a long-term work in Latin America. In the first phase, said Maruyama, the investments will be restricted to countries where the company already has offices-Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Panama and Mexico. The strategy will focus on expanding sales channels and partnerships to improve the administrative structure and distribution.
Colombia, Peru and Argentina are countries that can receive investments of the company, but within a few years. "Is currently in phase of study the installation of offices in these countries, with great potential for growth, but the investment would only be realized in the long term," said Maruyama.
For now, the more offensive action was in Brazil, where the company invested r $ 2.6 million in a factory in Manaus cameras, in addition to providing technical services to consumers.
Fujio Mitarai said that, in addition to digital cameras, the company evaluates produce laser printers in Brazil. Jun Otsuka, President of Canon of Brazil confirmed the intention. The production, however, would not be made in Manaus, but in a factory production lines located in Sorocaba maintained by Flextronics, custom manufacturing company based in Singapore.
In the short term, the Canon doesn't plan to install new plants in Latin America, said Mitarai. The Executive said see potential for the installation of a distribution centre or a production unit of cameras and printers in Mexico "in the future". "We would like to have subsidiaries in 30 countries, but let's consider the sales growth in all markets and then establish distribution channels or subsidiaries," he said.
In its effort, the company recently launched digital cameras with wireless connection (Wi-Fi) to win back consumers who have used smartphones for taking pictures of everyday life. These cameras can be connected to mobile phones or other devices to send photos.
The Canon also evaluates adopt Google's Android operating system, in their cameras, such as Nikon and Samsung make some compact models.
Masaya Maeda, Chief Executive Officer of the Division of communication products operations of Canon's images, said the use of smartphones to take pictures did grow the consumer interest in photography, which stimulates worldwide sales of professional cameras.
The global market for professional models is growing double digits a year, said Ken-Ichi Shimbori, Director of the Division of operations of image communication products of the company. For 2013, the estimate is an expansion of 12%, to 9.2 million units. Canon plans to grow at the same speed while maintaining a market share of 46%, said Shimbori. In the segment of compact cameras, the Executive provides a 12% drop in overall sales, to 16.2 million units. To reverse this situation, the plan is to strengthen technological innovation to gain strength and push the opponent out of the competition. Will be time to abandon the image of Geisha and adopt that of the Sumo wrestler.