High-end products are now moving into the mainline channels. This is the opinion of Canon’s Assistant Director (Marketing OSSV) Lakshmi Narayan Rao. Armed with a three-pronged strategy, Rao plans to pick up the volumes of these value products. He feels that high-end Multi Functional Devices (MFDs) are a complete win-win situation for any channel partner, because it yields higher margins and good service profitability.
With approximately 40 Ca-non Certified Partners (CCPs), Rao has a three-pronged app-roach–customer education, channel development and moti-vation and educating the channels.
“On the sales grid, these products fall between the box pushing volume products and high-end products,” opined Rao. With margins in range of five percent to eight percent and service profitability as high as 25 percent of the valuation of the solution sold, Rao feels that these products are fast penetrating the B and C cities too. “In fact e-governance can also be a big potential segment for us,” quipped
Rao.
According to him the MFDs, especially the high-ends are closing the void between the box push products and high value products. “With three traditional markets–analog/digital copier, laser printer and fax merging, it is time to bring in the technical advantage and healthier selling propositions,” added Rao. Rao also said that there is a Life Time Value pro-gram and Buyout programs to promote the convergence of these three markets.
Commenting about the future, he said that the focus would be to expand channels in a phased manner, educate customers and build the MFD brand awareness and loyalty.
With new strategy in hand, he is looking at sustaining the present 25.6 percent market share but add on volumes and grow from present 900 units to 1,400 units in this quarter.
Shweta Khanna
(CNS)