HP to debut digicams in India

Hewlett Packard India Pvt Ltd (HP) is all set to enter the booming Indian digital camera market. The launch is slated sometime in mid-October this year and will pit the company against vendors like Sony, Canon, Kodak, Olympus, amongst others.

HP’s entry-level camera is priced at $ 199 and ranges up to $ 599. The price point for India is still not tabbed and the company is learnt to be in negotiations with government officials to work out an ‘affordable’ tag.

“The duty in India is high, so we have not been able to fix a price yet. Our company is in discussion with government officials regarding the duty structure for digital cameras. In any case we are preparing ourselves for a mid October launch,” revealed Margaret Ong, VP (Digital Imaging and Personal Printing), HP Far East Asia Pacific/Japan.

HP claims to have rolled out its first digital camera as early as 1998 in North America. However, the company is bullish about the Asia Pacific market and a lot of projections supplement this. Between 2003 and 2006, the Asia Pacific market for digital cameras is forecasted to be the fastest growing region in the world with a CAGR of 19 percent as against a CAGR of 13 percent for the North American market. According to IDC, the number of camera phones is projected to double year-on-year from 2003 and Asia Pacific will be the highest contributor.

Added Ong, “Adoption of camera phones and the photo-graphy psychology is the pri-mary driver for digital imaging. Desire to complete photo-rela-ted activities in the entertain-ment center as well as PC and sharing these pictures are some of the customer trends for buying digital photography.”

Some of the marketing efforts that HP plans to adopt in a bid to grow the digital photography market in Asia Pacific include, target and improve the digital imaging experience at home and in-store, build awareness, foster strategic alliances to build enablers and promote scanning solutions to small business.

Another thing to watch out for is the “HP Digital Studios” propping up in all the Indian metros soon.

Ranjeet Rayen

(CNS)