As most sectors are operating under pressure from economic slowdown, Nikon India expects to log a substantial jump in its total revenues. Speaking to The Pioneer at the launch of two new digital single-lens reflex (DSlR) cameras, Nikon India’s Managing Director, Hiroshi Takashina said, “Despite an economic slowdown, we expect to grow by at least 20- 30 per cent in current financial year.”
During FY13, company had registered a total sales of 2.4 lakh units which Takashina now expects to grow to 3.6 lakh units by the end of FY14. While further giving a future guidance, he added, “Going forward, in Fy15 we are expecting 30 per cent grow in our sales to continue.” Overall, the company expects a turnover of Rs1,050 crore by the end of FY14 and has a target of Rs1,100 crore for the next financial year.
Nikon Corporation’s subsidiary, Nikon India contributes nearly three per cent to the parent company’s global revenue and around one per cent to the group’s DSlR sales but plans to expand it to five per cent in the next three years. Nikon India launched two new DSlR cameras off which D3300 is an entry level product. Priced at Rs32,450 onwards, D330 is company’s sixth product in the entry segment.
While emphasising company’s focus on the entry level segment, Takashina said, “nearly 80 per cent demand in the country is from entry segment and that is why we plan to expand further in this category.”
Apart from expand its product base, the company is also plans to expand its reach in the country. “In FY15, we plan to expand to 30 more cities. Our aim is to expand to tier II and tier III cities as there is substantial demand from them,” Takashina added.
The company currently imports all of its products from overseas and when asked about plans to set up manufacturing plants in the country, Takashima replied, “As of now we do not have any plans to set up manufacturing facilities in country. The contribution from India is just two per cent to the group’s global sales and hence for now we would continue to import products.”
Aiming to strength its presence in the country’s DSlR market, Nikon India recently created its first ever television commercial and now plans to train all its employees in order to improve customer interface. “India has a huge potential for DSlR segment due to its growing number of youths. We assume that over 5-10 years, a growth of up to 20 per cent would continue,” he further added.
During the event, Nikon India also unveiled its flagship model, D4S. A high end professional DSlR camera, D4S promises best in class image and video quality and is priced at Rs4,19,950. The sale of the products is going to start from the end of March only.
Apart from DSlR, Nikon is expecting to hold around 38 per cent of the compact cameras in the financial year 2014-15. “In the compact camera, we are having 33 per cent market share in India. In the coming fiscal, we would like to expand our share in this segment to 38 per cent,” he said.