With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, more people have started to invest in computer hardware and printers. Due to the whole work from home and study from home culture, the need for a printer has increased in every household. In order to offer more, companies like Canon are constantly pushing the boundaries. Canon has been focusing on printers lately since more people are now investing in one with the whole COVID-19 pandemic. In order to get some insights on this topic, we interviewed Mr. C Sukumaran, Director- Consumer System Products and Imagining Communication Business, Canon India to get more details.
Upon being questions about the impact of COVID-19 and lockdown, Mr. Sukumaran said “Along with taking care of our employees and channel partners, we, at Canon India prioritized business continuity while closely monitoring the situation. While the pandemic affected the entire printer industry, we were able to maintain our momentum in the Inkjet segment due to the rising demand for home printers and small office printers.”
He believes that Canon’s service infrastructure played a critical role in supporting customers in the COVID-19 times. Canon offered seamless and remote technical support, which led to hassle-free service.
Mr Sukumaran claims that the pandemic has transformed consumer behaviour with ‘Work from Home’ and ‘Study from Home’ culture. With this, the demand for computer hardware and printers increased. At Canon India, they saw 15-20% increase in demand for Inkjet printers when compared to pre-COVID years. This clearly shows that people are heavily investing in such hardware.
Canon currently has all types of mainstream printers. Upon being asked about the market share of the printers, Mr Sukumaran said that as per the latest report for Q2 2021 from IDC, the company has a 23 per cent market share in the inkjet category and a 24 per cent market share in the laser category.
As for what to expect from the company in the coming years, Mr Sukumaran says, “The pandemic has redefined customer expectations, introduced new ways of working and the need for intelligent solutions to facilitate the same. The shift in usage patterns has made both, customers and us realize the potential, that lies in home printing solutions. Therefore, we have strategized and pivoted our operations in a way that offers our customers an efficient solution through our range of home printers.”
The company has recently expanded its PIXMA G series portfolio with seven new models: the PIXMA G3060, PIXMA G3021, PIXMA G3020, PIXMA G2060, PIXMA G2021, PIXMA G2020, and PIXMA G1020. Furthermore, Canon witnessed an increased interest in home photo printing. And for that, the company has launched the PIXMA G570, PIXMA G670, and PIXMA PRO-200.
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