Canon expands in digital photo album print domain in India
Strengthens its foothold by introducing DreamLabo 5000 in Kerala Market
Kochi gets its first DreamLabo 5000 at Edathadan Digital Press, a premium digital photo lab in the state.
Aims at digitizing India’s 3300 Cr. photo print market.
Edathadan Digital Press positions the premium print version as HD prints.
Mumbai / Kochi, August 28th, 2014: Canon India Pvt. Ltd., India’s No. 1 complete digital imaging company, strengthens its toehold in Digital Photo Printing by introducing its stellar product DreamLabo 5000, a commercial inkjet printer in the city of Kochi, Kerala. The move will help to further build Canon’s presence in the South-Asian market.
The press announcement event was attended by Mr. Takao Hada, Group Executive, Commercial Inkjet Product Group, Canon Inc. Tokyo, Mr. Kensaku Konishi, President & CEO, Canon South & South East Asia, Mr. Kazutada Kobayashi, President & CEO, Canon India Pvt. Ltd. and Dr. Alok Bharadwaj, Executive Vice President, Canon India Pvt. Ltd. along with Mr. E.M. Wilson and Mr. E.N. Vinod of Edathadan Digital Press, Kochi.
Delivering a new standard of combined photo and text quality coupled with high productivity, DreamLabo 5000 revolutionises the photo printing industry by providing a high quality alternative to the traditional silver halide technology. In addition, the premium quality printing offers both the production photo and the small batch print-on-demand (POD) markets substantial new revenue streams.
Mr. Kazutada Kobayashi, President & CEO, Canon India, said at the unveiling, “We are delighted to introduce the DreamLabo 5000 in Kochi. After its grand success in Bangalore, this was a natural step towards expansion. The DreamLabo 5000 is a robust product that aims to revolutionize wedding photography in India. A marriage in the family is an important occasion where everything from invitations, venue and décor to food is planned meticulously. Finally there is a product that would ensure to keep the memories as vibrant and fresh for years to come. With this product, we hope to fulfil a cherished dream for the entire family and are confident that it would carve a niche for itself in the market.”
Edathadan Digital Press, a premium photo lab is the first to purchase and install DreamLabo 5000 in Kochi. This association will go a long way in strengthening Canon’s presence in the industry and digitizing the INR 3300 crore. Commercial photo printing market in India. Edathadan Digital Press will position the premium print version as HD prints.
Elaborating on the announcement, Dr. Alok Bharadwaj, Executive Vice President, Canon India, said, “Over the years, photo capturing technology has grown by leaps and bounds. In order to keep up with these advances, India is undergoing a massive transition from the conventional analogue and silver halide technology to digital photo printing. In fact, out of the Rs. 3300 crore commercial photo printing market in India, nearly 20% percent is digital, which is about Rs. 700 crore. With growing customer expectation, there is an enormous scope for creating value in this space. DreamLabo 5000 serves to do exactly this. Since the lion’s share of India’s multi crore commercial photography print industry comes from wedding and travel photography, DreamLabo 5000 specifically targets the needs of these professional photographers. We have got extremely encouraging feedback from Bangalore and hope to replicate the same success in Kochi.”
“Canon is looking at capturing 10% of digital photo album print space in India in the next three years. South India, especially Kerala will be a big driver towards this goal.” He further added.
Canon offers an unparalleled range of high quality imaging products for home as well as entrepreneurial use. From digital cameras for amateur and professional photographers, to home-use printers designed to easily create stunning photo prints, Canon provides end-to-end services to all its customers. This also includes digital multifunction printers for enterprises to address all their document management solutions. Additionally, in order to satisfy the exacting needs of industry professionals, the company has launched high-performance professional-model photo printers, large-format printers and digital printing presses.
Leveraging and extending Canon’s existing inkjet technology, which it has successfully deployed through its PIXMA desktop printers range, the DreamLabo 5000 features a newly developed high-density print head, enabling over 300 mm wide printing output.Incorporating Canon’s FINE (Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering) technology, the print head enables the printing of high-quality photos and detailed text to support a variety of high-value-added output, from premium photo albums, photo books, photo calendars, photo collages and other merchandise to high-quality POD items, such as bespoke brochures.
The wide print head delivers high-speed One-Pass printing, requiring only a single pass of the printing paper while the print head remains in a fixed position. When used in combination with the automatic Double-sided printing function, the DreamLabo 5000 is capable of printing approximately 1000 pages of A4 size content and 2300 pages of 4×6’ size content per hour. The system also attains high productivity by enabling paper and ink tank replacement during printing, supporting the extended operation time required for production printers.
DreamLabo 5000 uses a seven-colour dye-based ink system that delivers smooth gradation. Employing image processing technology that makes use of the full range of Canon’s unique inkjet printing colour gamut, the new printer enables the output of photo images with a level of colour representation which comprehensively surpasses that of conventional silver halide.
The retail price of DreamLabo 5000 in India is approximately INR 4.5 crore. Canon India, in association with its channel partners will work towards realising the full potential of this advanced technology.
About Canon Inc.
Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leader in the fields of professional and consumer imaging equipment and information systems. Canon’s extensive range of products includes production printers, multifunction office systems, inkjet and laser printers, cameras, video equipment, medical equipment and semiconductor-manufacturing equipment. Originally established in 1937 as Precision Optical Industry, Co., Ltd., a camera manufacturer, Canon has successfully diversified and globalized to become a worldwide industry leader in professional and consumer imaging systems and solutions. With nearly 200,000 employees worldwide, Canon has manufacturing and marketing subsidiaries in Japan, the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania; and a global R&D network with companies based in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Canon’s consolidated net sales for fiscal 2013 (ended December 31, 2013) totaled $35.5 billion (at an exchange rate of Yen\105=US$1). Visit the Canon Inc. website at: www.canon.com
Canon in India
Canon India Pvt. Ltd. has achieved revenue of Rs. 1910 crore in 2013 and aims Rs. 2100 crore revenues in 2014 which indicates a 10% growth. Canon focuses on multiple market segments of consumer, SME, B2B, Government & Commercial. Canon’s product portfolio extends over a vast variety such as copier MFDs, fax-machines, printers, scanners, All-in-ones, digital cameras, DSLR, Cinematic imaging products, camcorders, cable ID printers and card printers.
Canon India Pvt. Ltd. is a 100% subsidiary of Canon Singapore Pvt. Ltd., a world leader in imaging technologies. Set up in 1997, Canon markets over 200 comprehensive range of sophisticated contemporary digital imaging. The company today has offices in 10 cities, warehouses in 13 cities across India and employs over 1050 people. Canon has approximately 500 primary channel partners, 14 National Retail Chain partners, and over 6000 secondary retail points. Canon has over 113 own retail stores called the Canon Image Square across 59 cities in the country. Canon’s service reach extends to over 2800 towns with 15 Canon camera service centers and 37 printer Canon Care Centers. Canon services India Inc. with engineers for its enterprise business with over 200 engineers for on-site service.
